For Sunday, October 19, 2008
My wife had a birthday this year

OK. She did it. My wife turned 60 through no fault of her own. We did not throw a 60th birthday party for her. We threw a 59th Farewell Party for her two days before she turned into a pumpkin.

It was a splendid party and about 35 people came. We lolled the day away under a warm Saturday sun in our backyard, lounging, chatting, resting. We seldom talked politics or school. We talked about everything else twice.

Our party had a theme: The ‘60s for turning 60. Folks were asked to dig out their old hippie duds and see if they could fit into them. We were rewarded with a colorful cast of characters. We had cool friends who drove all the way from Cool.

A month ago, Gino and I began the preparations for this event. Our big, master plan was to drive to Berkeley under the cloak of hardware shopping and stock up on some 1960s memorabilia. I must say, to my surprise, it was a miserable failure. We walked the length of Telegraph Avenue and could not find a peace sign, a black light, or even black light posters. We tried to buy hippie wigs, headbands, bellbottoms. Nothing but dismay.

We found two wighats – one rainbow cap with dreadlocks, and a Che Guevara beret with shoulder-length black locks.

We walked into the Print Mint only to find that they had no glow-in-the-dark posters in their entire collection. Unwilling to come home empty-handed, I spent $100 on some rock musician posters – John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, a vintage Jefferson Airplane, 2 Jimi Hendrix, and the famous Art Kane Jazz Portrait of 1958 Harlem. We pinned them to the walls leading to the bathroom for all to enjoy. They look so good, I know I’ll have to get some of them framed.
As a last resort we drove to Party City in Vallejo and hit pay dirt. They had a whole 1960s aisle. We bought a basket full of pink granny glasses, peace symbol pendants, peace headbands, beads, earrings, white Afro-wigs, patchwork skirts, tie-dye blouses, Make Love Not War badges, and an assortment of stickers. The moon was in the seventh house.

I also bought good wine. Lots of it. I filled my Costco cart with $500 in fine whites and reds. This is my wife’s birthday party we’re talking about here. This is no ordinary Saturday afternoon get-together with a kitchen counter lined with half-hearted bottles of Two Buck Chuck, Sutter Home, and Fetzer.

Do you recall me writing back on August 3 about how I was going to take Susan on a Mexican Cruise over Thanksgiving? Well, don’t look forward to stories about that trip because it’s not happening. We canceled our plans when the stock market dropped several thousand points and sucked the lifeblood out of our retirement fund.

Instead, I put the cruise money toward this party and Susan’s gift. Except for the fine wines, it was an economical event. We served 1960s food – hot dogs, hamburgers, and chili. The meal for 35 people cost me $219. The lion’s share of our saved-up party dough went toward the gift.
Susan didn’t get her Mexican float. She’s OK with that. She also didn’t get jewelry, clothing, a spa treatment, or a new blender. I got her something from deep in my heart, something I knew would make her extremely happy.

It came in a small package. Actually, it fit inside an envelope. When she opened it, I knew by the sparkle in her eye that I had done the right thing.

Inside the envelope, behind $20 in Lotto scratchers, was a whole sheaf of receipts marked Paid in Full. I paid our bills for the next six months. I sent several hundred in advance to the water bill, several hundred to the cable bill, doubled up on the mortgage, and then I stopped in and said a long hello to our old friend, Ann Buringrud, over at State Farm. To Ann I wrote a fat, old check paying off everything due deep into next spring, houses, my truck. Ann was good enough to attend the party, and even donated her own bottle of fine red wine.

This gift of love, this genuine 2008 token of affection, brought a tear to my wife’s eye. We may not be traveling through foreign lands and open seas for a while. We may not be retiring any time soon, but for the next six months, we’re in the green. Our grandchildren will have Christmas. As happens, not all the wine got poured on her birthday. It has an excellent shelf life, so that should last us until spring as well.

And, she won $36 from the $20 in Lotto scratchers