I had birthday parties from ages 1 to 16. Another one at a bar in college when I turned 21. At age 30 I spent the evening with Paul and friends at the Shake Shack in Manhattan's Madison Square Park. My 40th birthday wouldn't be held at a bar or a restaurant in a park in the middle of New York, but I was determined to make it special.
Of course, Covid almost ruined those plans. I had been thinking about my own party since we held Paul's 40th at Old North Arcade a couple of years ago, long before "pandemic" was a daily word in our vocabulary. But as cases went down and things got a little more back to normal, I finally allowed myself to get excited about it a couple of months ago and sent out the invitations: a backyard bash with some of my favorite things (in no particular order!) -- pizza, donuts, drinks, family and friends.
Last Saturday's forecast looked iffy all week long, and it rained all morning. But a couple of hours before the festivities were to start, it cleared up. A few gray clouds, sure, but no rain. It even got hot! So many of my favorite people came -- I think I counted around 60 adults and kids, so we were wise to get 7 dozen donuts (from my favorite shop, Buckeye Donuts, of course!). Paul even stuck four candles in a vanilla cream donut and led the crowd in "Happy Birthday."
The kids too had a great time and were so worn out that they finally came inside to go to bed on their own volition. Many, many thanks to my parents, who not only made the trip to Columbus for the party but made sure the kids went safely to sleep while Paul and I were chatting with friends. All in all, we had guests from 4 p.m. to midnight. It was quite a way to ring in the next decade of my life, and to remember all of the good things -- and good people -- that I'm surrounded by.
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