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[ She's always been a little less than composed when she addresses the network and she's not sure why. It's usually just initially, like she needs to warm up because she's talking to...well, a lot of people. And this may be seen as the dumbest idea ever, but hey, if she believes it's good, they'll believe it's good, right? ]

Hey there. So. I went away for a little while and now I'm back. Can't say I missed this place, but I'm sure you get it, right?

[ That, at least, she's sure everyone can relate to. Going home and coming back, realizing you're stuck again. Crying a little about it. ]

Anyway. It's nice to see all of you again. Kind of. Through this thing.

[ Get to the point, Patterson. She can almost hear Weller in her head. ]

So I was thinking about how nobody really has a birthday here, not in the traditional sense, I think, right? I'm sure some people have parties anyway, when they think of it, but. I was thinking - what about a birthday party for us? All of us? We kind of deserve it? And it would be retro-themed, so think Pin the Tail on the Donkey, water balloons, embarrassing games of Twister, ice cream cake. Just to name a few. I'm open to suggestions. Who's in?

I'm flexible on what to do about gifts for each other, so really, suggestions are totally welcome. On the subject of parties, what's the best party or birthday - or both - you ever had?

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Oh, yeah, of course, you're totally right. This party is all-decades-inclusive. The corrected theme would be...highlights from childhood? What was something fun you used to do at birthday parties when you were a kid? For me, water balloons were always a must.

Cake, of course. [ suddenly -- and for the first time ever -- she feels as though her childhood might have been woefully under-served when compared to later time periods. still, she tries not to think too hard about it. ] Truth be told, we didn't really do parties. Not for birthdays, at any rate.

[ and certainly not for the children. they had a nice meal, as a family, and modest gifts were given. peggy always coveted her brother's; his always seemed more interesting. ]

Cake's a given. [ Well, for kids born in a certain century and specific decades, she supposes. Which may be why things are a little off. ]

So birthdays weren't too special, necessarily? What did you have parties for?

Oh, they were certainly special. But modest, too. A nice meal and presents after pudding. On our birthdays my mum would let us have full control over the wireless after we ate. One day a year we didn't have to listen to the unending drone of the nightly news.

[ music! adventure programmes! these were exciting things to a girl growing up in the roaring twenties and the far less opulent thirties which followed. ]

-- Coronations were always a big big affair, however. The whole borough turned out.

That sounds nice. Cozy. Everyone together. [ But there's the mention of wireless so now her curiosity is well and truly piqued. Wireless means something entirely different in her time period, of course. ]

Listen to the nightly news. That's something I don't hear...ever, these days. [ Could just be semantics, of course, but usually it's "watch" the nightly news, or catch the highlights on social media. Plus, she's pretty sure a radio was called a wireless. ] So was this - what, the 1930s? 20s?

What were coronations like?

[ Tell her everything, Peggy. ]

Both, I suppose.

[ which isn't the most helpful answer. so peggy clarifies: ] It was '47 when I left home and got dragged here, but you asked birthday parties and I confess I haven't really gone out of the way to celebrate one since I was a child.

[ -- in the 20s and the early 30s. ]

As for coronations? Well, they're all bunting and flags and lined up picnic tables heavy with lunch along the borough green. Merry all around.

We can fix that, then. I was planning just a big get-together for everyone, obviously, but if something lowkey is more your style, we can work with that, too. When's your birthday?

[ Time is weird here, she knows, but they can give it their best guess. Also, talking to someone from 1947 gets her nerd radar going. ]

Your coronations sound like summer barbecues and the Fourth of July for us. I mean, kind of.

They're not dissimilar. [ and she'll just skip on by the question about her birthday, actually. best to not even engage with it enough to decline. ] I've lived stateside for a few Independence Days, now.

Hell, the bunting is pretty much all the same bloody colours.

[ red and white and blue. ]

[ She definitely has every right to avoid the question, so Patterson won't call attention to it again. Moving on ]

Oh, yeah? We throw a good bash, mostly. Especially in the city, the fireworks are incredible. What parts of the U.S. have seen?

[ frankly, she could do without the fireworks. she doesn't react quite as dramatically to those bursts and explosions as other veterans do -- but the association is hard to shake. that's something of a downer to mention -- so peggy presses onward. ]

I live in New York, actually. But lately I've been also had my fair share of the west coast as well.

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