Milestone Birthdays

Every year, I thank my mom for shitting me out on that particular day. I'll be sure to give her extra special thanks on the milestone birthdays.

 

You're an asshole baby?

 

Sounds like an Oasis song.

 

46, in Sydney: Dove with sharks. Two days later, jumped out of a plane. Going for the hat trick with the bridge climb tomorrow.

 

21st: In snowstorm at Glacier National Park (b-day is June 30) drinking Jim Beam with fellow campers.
30th: At surprise party thrown by girlfriend, now wife.
40th: In Bermuda, playing golf
50th: On Red Sox road trip
60th: Went to Cape, watched Chatham A's Cape League game
65th: More Cape, but no ballgame.

 

18 - Best friend threw a surprise party with a $200 Tower Record gift certificate and a stripper.

21 - Did 27 shots and did so much damage to my mom's downstairs bathroom that they had to recarpet the room and put in a new toilet.

30 - Then girlfriend, now wife, took me to an awesome hotel where they catered in Sushi and had a couples massage.

40 - Wife threw surprise party.

 

30th - Went to Italy (on my honeymoon. Got married the day before).

 

Sounds like you got a double helping of some things fishy.

 

20 -- Got the day off because my boss mistakenly thought it was my 21st. Ended up doing nothing.
21 -- End of semester party. Cops knock on the door at 12:01 and as everyone younger than me scrambles for a hiding place, Spike Chiquet turns to me and says "It's doesn't matter for you."
25-- Honestly no clue but whatever it was, doesn't hold a candle to 26 and when with several friends I watched the first round of the NFL draft at Ford Field, walked across the street to go to a Tigers game, which they won on a walk-off, then went over to the Elwood to watch the Wings win a playoff game and finished it off at a Mongolian BBQ in Royal Oak while watching the Pistons win a playoff game.
30-- put in for a day off, half the newsroom got laid off the week before and I was asked to work since no one knew how to handle doing news with the skeleton staff yet.
35 -- Worked. May have gotten to a bar with the copy editor afterward, don't remember.

So years that are multiples of five suck

 

I've invited far-flung friends to a dinner out for my birthday for probably the last 10 years. I turned 40 in December, and had the largest group ever -- a fabulous experience getting people from different areas of my life together, including two who were in my first-grade class.

From back in the day when you had to invite everyone in the class, I recall a few parties in our building's rec room. One year we built stuff with marshmallows and popsicle sticks; a lifelong friend who grew up to be an architect made the Millennium Falcon. I also had two slumber parties in our apartment's living room -- with hibachi first -- and my dad got up and shone a flashlight in everyone's eyes because we were making too much noise.

My 21st was a disappointment. I was (and still am) a teetotaler, and a friend at a different college had promised to drive over (about 90 minutes), take me out, and give me drinks until I found something I could tolerate enough to get wasted. He stood me up instead.

The only adult birthday that really stands out is when I turned 23, because my then-boyfriend talked me into going skiing with his friends and threw me a surprise party. I was terrified on the slopes, but still amazed he pulled off the celebration.