Happy birthday, Honey!
Monday, September 21st, 2009In any case, 25 years ago this evening, we left to meet another couple for Pat’s birthday — I think they lived in in Laguna Niguel, or Tustin, or …? Anyways, we pulled into a Trader Joe’s to pick something up for dinner, and I’d forgotten my wallet, so we turned around, me slightly perturbed to have forgotten my wallet back at the apartment.
We had to call the couple to tell them we’d be late, so I suggested that Pat come up with me. While we were gone about 25 of our friends had piled into our tiny one bedroom apartment, and when we opened the door and walked a ways in “SURPRISE!!”. What a trip — yes, I’d planned it, and my wallet had been tucked beside the front seat. It was genius!
Pat got a fish, and an aquarium, from me, and I’m sure some other neat stuff 
That aquarium, which was opposite our bed, would confirm months later that we were indeed in an earthquake in the middle of the night.
I remember Pat tried to throw me a surprise party on my next birthday, but I found the reservation receipt for the Verano common room a few days before the party and it wouldn’t have mattered — in fact, the receipt only confirmed what I already suspected, but I played along. Rogers, whose job it was to get me to the party, asked later “Did you know?” — I said “no”, but yes I did But the fact is that Pat had already surprised me — a few weeks before, there was a knock at the door and I opened it, to find Pat and a big French Lop bunny, who Pat had gotten from the Animal Shelter — his name was Jackson. He lived on our third-floor balcony and used a cat box (mostly). I built him a cage, with the door kept open during the day — it cost us more to fly Jackson to Nashville when we moved in 1987 than it cost to fly either one of us. It was a very sad day when Jackson died years later in Nashville, now buried at our home there.
Anyways — no surprise this year, but I’m waiting for the flower shop to open.
