MORE BIRTHDAY SCENES

My birthday was a mixture of emotions. The patriarch, Roy-ly declared he would be in attendance for a dinner. We would go someplace special. He did allow that I could pick the restaurant although he would have been happy to go back to DeLucca's for the upteemth (it's a number, look it up) time. He would purchase his own dinner and drinks. He is prone to pronouncements these days. We all obey as his loyal subjects of course. Better to laugh than to see him cry.

My husband and I and His Highness met my daughter at an eclectic supper club in downtown Lansing called the Cadillac Club. Very bizarre place and very low-down yet sophisticated coolll. Built, I kid you not, in an old bowling alley. The dance floor still bears a remarkable resemblance to bowling lanes -which of course it is! We enjoyed me enjoying a birthday drink called the Le La? Lu Lo? Ye hah? I have no idea. I do know they set it on fire way to close to me and we all yelled the appropriate words which I am pretty sure were not "OOPA!" Wrong cuisine. I waited patiently for a genie to appear. They didn't say that would happen, but I assumed.

We proceeded to drinks, appetizers, drink, dinner, drink, drink. In due course two young men showed up with a couple of 6-srings to play a medley of 60'sish songs. They were apparently substitutes for whoever was scheduled, but the 7 or 8 of us in the place were polite. As Roy-ly is rolling at this point he talks about getting a request played. The 20 something hostess comes over to see if all is well, well we were a little noisy. Roy-ly asked if she had ever heard of Guy Lombardo-we are sufficiently comfortable enough to enjoy her consternation and confusion. Oh give me a break. Even Kristen knows who Guy is.

Roy-ly then decides he is going to ask for "To Each His Own". I try to stay his enthusiasm by relaying that boys who are playing Jimmy Buffett and Moon Dance are not likely to know any 40's music. Undeterred he approaches and makes his request-always prefaced by the throw away line "Well I'm old". Apparently this opens doors and provides freebies or at least understanding. We'll check our sheet music they say. Nothing. Roy-ly keeps waiting. I try to point out the lack of knowledge of our young entertainers. He decides if he tips them, magically the music will appear. We finally put everyone out of their anticipatory misery but ending the evening about 9:00. Big fun.

Mother would have loved the evening. In fact Roy-ly relayed some fascinating stories about their travels and him hauling her out of places when he thought she was getting too much attention. Mother was in my thoughts many times that day and I missed her especially on my day. At 8:30 am I always called her on Nov. 8 to thank her for my birth. As 8:30 approached I was hurting when the phone rang. My own beautiful daughter called at that precise moment as she remembered my ritual. We live on in our children. You would think I would know that by now. It helped.