I have been making a birthday card

for someone about to turn 80.
Now I need to explain about birthday cards. I am not a calligrapher. I am not good at making pretty cards with stamps and cut outs and the appropriate verses. 
There are people I know who can do that sort of thing. They do it so well that I would not even begin to try and complete with them. They work with precision and care and skill. 
I try to work with care but I am not a precise or skilled sort of cat. There is no chance I will ever make that sort of birthday card.
At the same time I have strong objections to buying a card for a special birthday. 
The card is likely to be expensive and, more importantly, meaningless.
Oh yes it will say things about "happy birthday" and "80" or whatever age the person happens to be. The problem is that it is all too obvious that I just prowled into the newsagent and picked up a card. It also all too likely that someone else will have done the same thing and chosen exactly the same card in yet another newsagent. 
The solution to the problem would seem to be to make one. 
It took me a while to work out how to do this. Nobody wants illegible paw prints all over the card so obviously I needed to type something. 
The question has been, "What do I type?"
The answer has been, "As many quotations as the birthday - plus one for the coming year."
I keep a list of quotations in a computer file because there are some that might do for more than one person. I also go hunting for quotations that might suit a particular person. The idea is to capture them, cut them, and paste them firmly in place.
The intended recipient of this card is a former politician. I spent some time finding some suitable quotations from her particular side of politics - quotations that, on the whole, I rather like and think she will like.  Then, naughtily, I have flung in a couple of quotations from another party as well.  I think she may find those interesting as well.
Then there are quotations from all over the place. I don't always agree with what they say but that is not the idea. The idea is that they might give someone else something to think about or simply enjoy.
Some years ago now I made a card for a man turning 70. He is a friend of sorts of the Senior Cat I suppose. He has never married and is a shy, almost reclusive man. I found out about his birthday by accident because he needed his signature witnessed on a form and asked me to do it. 
I made him a card and put it in his letter box. A week or so later I was told, "Thanks for the card."
Knowing how he feels about people making any sort of fuss I just nodded.
But recently I saw him in the library. He was checking out some books. He nodded to me and then, unusually for him, he said,
      "Have you ever read any of....?"
We had a short chat about the author.
      "What got you started on him?" I asked.
      "Oh that's your fault. There was a quote in that card you made me once. I thought if he could say that then it might be worth finding out what else he had to say. Interesting man."
I think I'll go on making cards just in case someone else finds someone interesting.