Friday’s post of Pop Pop’s birthday party had me thinking about some of mine. I figured there were at least a half a dozen that were more memorable than others. I knew I’d have to go back decades to find them.
Memorable celebrations of my taking another lap around the sun!
5/3/60 5th Birthday– The chain-smoking clown above was named Rusty. Mom hired him for this shindig. He drove a Cadillac Eldorado with a four-horse merry-go-round attached to it. Mom did the inviting, so there were several kids I didn’t know. Rusty had two balloon animal tricks. A poodle and a silly hat, which he made for all of us. But he did have carnival games and came with kiddie swag for the winners. Mom also got my cake from Walter’s bakery in Pomona. It was a yellow cake with a lemon curd and copious amounts of frosting. This would be my go to cake for the next half dozen birthdays.
5/3/66 11th Birthday- Mom’s birthday surprise was a trip to Universal Studios. Remember this is the Universal of 1966. It wasn’t nearly the amusement park it is now. But it did have the tram tour. Don’t think it lasted 20 minutes back then, but it did stop at a prop yard for us kids to mess around in. Gigantic foam rocks to unleash our inner Hulk. Also a PT boat prop from McHale’s Navy. Invited 4 of my best buddies.
5/3/73 18th Birthday- Folks were in Europe, Kathy was in college, and Chris was down the street at our uncle’s place. What could go wrong? I myself was only a few weeks from graduating high school. The folks allowed me to have ONE party while they were gone. My 18th birthday. But they didn’t say how long it could last. It went the entire weekend.
5/3/1976 21st Birthday- I hit the legal California drinking age in Colorado. Boulder to be exact, and spent it at a place called the Dark Horse Saloon. My buddy Jay and I had left about 2 weeks prior to embark on what would turn out to be a four-month excursion around the US during the Bicentennial. So in reality, this was the most epic celebration.
5/3/1985 30th Birthday- It’s amazing I have any recall of this day, as the only thing I can remember was the rager of a hangover. This was Derby day, so it started with a buddy renting a limo, which was a rarity in 1985. After that it becomes a blur. This was also the birthday that when I sobered up, I needed to start acting like an adult, as I would be married about a month later and would have a 5 year old step daughter to raise. This pretty much ended the bacchanalia portion of my birthday celebrations.
5/3/2015 60th Birthday- This one was special as I crossed off a bucket list item I figured I’d never check off. Thanks to Mike and Brad for convincing me that it wasn’t that tough of a puzzle to work out. So just a few short days after turning 60, I found myself standing on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. The puzzle really was easy to do, because I’ve been back two more times.
Now every day is special. At 71, I’m hoping there will be several more laps around the sun ahead of me.
Leave a Reply