First off, thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday yesterday! It was a great day made even better by all of the shouts out on facebook, the texts, the phone calls, the flowers to my office, the cards, and one particularly brazen care package. I was a little hesitant when anticipating turning 29 (aka my last year in my 20′s) until I realized that I didn’t turn into a pumpkin or develop arthritis overnight. So far so good!
A big birthday highlight was going to dinner with my very cool Uncle Ralph and his entourage of 25 students who were in town for college tours. Have I told you about my uncle Ralph? As a kid he was cool because he pulled quarters out of my ear and then made me “fly” to touch the ceiling. As an adult, he’s cool because he has an awesome record collection, plays the drums (ok that always made him cool), puts on an outdoor Shakespeare festival every year with his students, he knows everything about history (seriously- ask him anything!), and among other things has a sense of humor that cannot be matched.
When I was born, my Dad says that the nurse came into the room to ask if it was ok before letting my Uncle Ralph in to see me. He had more of an off-beat look in those days and I just smile when I think about how amusing my entourage has always been, even from day 1.
It’s only fitting that we reunited to celebrate 29 years later. Ok, maybe he wasn’t in town just for me, but that won’t stop me from using that to guilt trip my parents later. “Yeah, well, Uncle Ralph came up to visit me for my birthday. He even took me out to dinner.”
Uncle Ralph is a teacher, both in his profession and in his personal life. There is so much to learn from him. If there was a lesson to be learned from him last night, it is that students create an instant birthday party and that uncles have full reign to talk about anything and everything they wish to share with you and your boyfriend, even if they were just introduced an hour beforehand. From this freedom of speech, I’ve learned that I’ll laugh because the alcohol is lacking but the conversation is flowing, and how did we start talking about prostates and family trees where the branches, how do I put this, sometimes loop back around to meet each other?
In exchange for his company and wisdom, I traded him enlightenment by loaning him two David Sedaris books (“Holidays On Ice” and “Me Talk Pretty One Day”). I trust that he will properly spew his coffee, as you should, when reading the comforting tales that remind us that maybe it’s not just our family after all.
