It's my birthday, which got me thinking about other birthdays. Which in my case, is not necessarily a good thing. I actually had a birthday curse that lasted years, but that's a whole other story and a negative one at that. And today, I'm all about the good.
My brother and I went to college in Boston. We went to very different schools, but saw each other often. And as a guy who's been known to seek out a good time, he planned the ultimate birthday party when I turned 21.
The phone rang. I answered it.
"Hey, I figured out what we're doing for your 21st birthday."
"Um, you did?" I replied warily.
"Yeah. Baseball Birthday."
"Huh?"
"Just collect 10 bucks from all your friends and leave the rest to me."
"10 bucks?" This was when Shawmut Bank spit out cash in $5 increments. Ten dollars was a good chunk o' cash.
"Yeah, $6.50 for a ticket, the rest for the keg," My brother said.
"Tickets? Keg? What keg?"
"Don't worry about it. Just get the cash and bring it to me in two days."
So, like a good little sister, I hung up the phone and over the next couple days, when I saw my friends, I invited them to Baseball Birthday.
"What's that?" They'd ask.
"I'm not sure," I'd answer.
But they all coughed up the ten bucks just to see where my crazy brother would lead us.
On my birthday, my friends and I assembled on my apartment's stoop. We lived on Newbury Street, which is Boston's equivalent of Fifth Avenue. (No, we weren't rich. My roommie and I shared a teeny one bedroom apartment behind a shop that sold handstitched Italian leather goods.)
"So what exactly is Baseball Birthday?" Someone asked as my brother rolled up with one of his roommates. They had a car, which was very rare in Boston. From it, they pulled a keg and sat it right in the middle of the walk.
The saleswoman in the leather shop stuck her head out the door and glared at us.
My brother handed everyone a keg cup and a bleacher seat ticket. We drank a lot of beer before the sky darkened and we started our stumble to Fenway Park. Our mob covered half a section of the bleacher seats. Then they coerced the rest of the section to howl out "Happy Birthday." We did the wave and splashed each other with beer and my boyfriend at the time tried to jump the wall and run across the field.
Thank God he didn't get arrested.
After the game, someone picked up the keg and we moved the party back to my brother's apartment where we could blast music and not worry about storekeepers. My 21st birthday party lasted all night long.
It was definitely the most memorable birthday I've ever had. So what about you? What was your most memorable birthday?
xoxo,
Suzanne
About Me
- Suzanne Casamento
- Author of Fingerprints, Choosing Tally, and All the Moments in Between. Tweet me @suzannecasamento
Happy birthday, Suzanne!!! I love your baseball birthday story, by the way. Too funny!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure which birthday was my favorite, but I have three contenders:
1. When I turned 16, and my mom and stepdad took me and a bunch of my friends out to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory;
2. For my 30th, my hubby took me to Santa Barbara and we stayed at the Four Seasons Biltmore. It rained that day, but we had afternoon tea in their library, which had a huge roaring fire going and was totally romantic; and
3. Last October, for my 38th, I met my sister and brother in New York. I took a red eye to get there the night before, so when my sister met me at her hotel, she was all, "Happy birthday!" even though I'd totally forgotten what day it was at that point. I took a nap and then we stayed up for about another twenty hours.
See yesterday's post...my 30th birthday kidnapping to Mexico! Happy Birthday S! I love you! B
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday from the boyz down south....
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Suzanne!
ReplyDeleteMy most memorable was my 42nd when I was given a surprise dinner party at the Sheraton in Bahrain. My host invited all my friends, unbeknownst to me, and gave me a beautiful Bahrain pearl necklace to boot!
Hey Anonymous, which one of "the boyz" are you? Now you've got me all kinds of curious... ; )
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks!
I think my most memorable was my surprise birthday party at the Venice Whaler. I was 100% surprised. Shocked. Flabbergasted. Good times. Good times.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful birthday Suzie!
Happy Birthday! What a 21st bday story!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Suzanne! Wish you a lot of joy and blessings as you step into another year :). Gosh, my most memorable birthday... They were so many of them, but I'm not old ;). I appreciate every memory, but I got to say that receiving the first own made presents from my kids on my last birthday was really touching and a whole new horizon. Have a great weekend and a splendid time on your special day.
ReplyDeleteHappy B-DAY. I have 2 memorable birthdays, one that involved you...on my 21st birthday, we all went to the Lenox hotel and listened to you sing "Get Here" by Oleta Adams...then I went home and threw up, not from drinking but from my lovely ulcer that lasted 2 years.
ReplyDeleteMy other birthday was my 30th. My husband planned an afternoon at Fenway Park and then had a surprise dinner party at a restaurant in the North End. I remember getting so mad at him on the way to the baseball game thinking this was my only birthday present that I made him stop the car and I jumped out. I started walking down the street with no where to go. Andy was laughing so hard! I quickly realized that I just I hated turning 30!
mine was when I set up a Birthday Party for myself at a local Pizza Resturant (Nenos). I invited all my classmates told them where to go for the party and what time. Unfortunately I never told my parents about the party. So they got a call asking where we were. Everyone was waiting and we ended up showing up late. (I think I was 7 at the time)
ReplyDeleteHAPPY BIRTHDAY, Suzanne! Hope you have a great year.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite birthday has to be the day I turned 34...I got married on that day to My Prince (and I'd kissed a *lot* of frogs before finding him!!)
When I was 12, we didn't have enough money to have a party for me so my dad took me out. We didn't have enough for everyone to go though so it was he and I. We went to a resturant and I had shrimp which was my favorite food. After we ate, they brought out a small cake with a candle on it. All the waitresses sang happy birthday to me and the youngest waitress kissed me on the cheek. That was my first non-mom kiss. Dad knew the management there and I think the meal was free. That is all I got that year for my birthday but it was the best present ever.
ReplyDeleteHappy (belated) birthday! Hope it was fun!
ReplyDelete