Sunday, November 07, 2004
Wet Kiss & Bear Hug of a Party
By Anonymous
It was the over-the-top, embrace of a lifetime. A "surprise" birthday party with no detail unattended and no expense spared. The best liquor flowed all night, along with rain, Tahitian dancers, a pro comedian, a big-name diva and a celebrity band. Fab vacations and dinners went to holders of lucky numbers. Mountains of birthday gifts spilled from tables.
Lavishness achieved the nth degree: glittery hand-made decorations, rare sea foods, fine cakes, waiters and waitresses at the guests' elbows refilling glasses barely sipped, elaborate party favors, circles of wild young and old dancers. The drenching storm outside added to the drama. Laughter and abandon took hold, group goodwill ruled the room.
The next morning the birthday boy struggled to crack open his silty eyes. He was experiencing a twenty-year hangover. He remembered nothing that happened after 7:30 the night before. He didn't remember the big-name diva's performance, or waltzing with a huge man he hadn't seen in years, or repeatedly toppling over with his best friend's wife while the band performed Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools". Blinded by the blue of the ocean in the hotel restaurant, he took drinks of coffee and miso soup. He hardly believed it when they told him that he had been covered up to his eyebrows with leis the night before, strolling in a poufy red hat, and singing Elvis Presley songs for the whole crowd. Apparently, the hostess had been unexpectedly--briefly--moved to tears when the diva sang, "Wind Beneath My Wings," dedicated to him from the hostess.
He was thoroughly wretched from the estimated 4-6 bottles of good merlot he had had during the evening. He felt quite old at the moment; exhausted, relieved that he'd survived the wildness of the past few years, and permanently anxious knowing the ride wasn't over. At the same time, in the midst of the wretchedness, there was something else. Happiness and peace hovered like smoke, and though he could recall hardly anything, he felt the afterglow of a wet kiss and an amazing bear hug.
[Editor's note: What's nice about this story is that beyond the haze and extravagance of the celebration, at the end of the ride, the subject seems to have arrived at a better, more peaceful place. Perhaps we'll check in with the birthday boy in a month or two and see if his happiness has lingered.]
It was the over-the-top, embrace of a lifetime. A "surprise" birthday party with no detail unattended and no expense spared. The best liquor flowed all night, along with rain, Tahitian dancers, a pro comedian, a big-name diva and a celebrity band. Fab vacations and dinners went to holders of lucky numbers. Mountains of birthday gifts spilled from tables.
Lavishness achieved the nth degree: glittery hand-made decorations, rare sea foods, fine cakes, waiters and waitresses at the guests' elbows refilling glasses barely sipped, elaborate party favors, circles of wild young and old dancers. The drenching storm outside added to the drama. Laughter and abandon took hold, group goodwill ruled the room.
The next morning the birthday boy struggled to crack open his silty eyes. He was experiencing a twenty-year hangover. He remembered nothing that happened after 7:30 the night before. He didn't remember the big-name diva's performance, or waltzing with a huge man he hadn't seen in years, or repeatedly toppling over with his best friend's wife while the band performed Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools". Blinded by the blue of the ocean in the hotel restaurant, he took drinks of coffee and miso soup. He hardly believed it when they told him that he had been covered up to his eyebrows with leis the night before, strolling in a poufy red hat, and singing Elvis Presley songs for the whole crowd. Apparently, the hostess had been unexpectedly--briefly--moved to tears when the diva sang, "Wind Beneath My Wings," dedicated to him from the hostess.
He was thoroughly wretched from the estimated 4-6 bottles of good merlot he had had during the evening. He felt quite old at the moment; exhausted, relieved that he'd survived the wildness of the past few years, and permanently anxious knowing the ride wasn't over. At the same time, in the midst of the wretchedness, there was something else. Happiness and peace hovered like smoke, and though he could recall hardly anything, he felt the afterglow of a wet kiss and an amazing bear hug.
[Editor's note: What's nice about this story is that beyond the haze and extravagance of the celebration, at the end of the ride, the subject seems to have arrived at a better, more peaceful place. Perhaps we'll check in with the birthday boy in a month or two and see if his happiness has lingered.]
