But last year? That was a very different story…
First, you have to understand one thing about me. I. Love. The Beatles. It’s gotten progressively worse with age. Maybe it’s a nostalgia thing, a longing for my youth. All I know for sure is that their music makes me happy.
A couple years ago I decided to combine that passion with my other favorite pastime: gardening, of course. I began noticing how many Beatles lyrics mentioned gardening, or flowers, or sunshine. I decided to incorporate some of those lines into my flowerbeds. Little did I know that those tunes would soon come to life right in my very own back yard.
Last year was my *cough* fiftieth *cough* birthday, so the Suburban Spouse, along with the Suburban Sprouts (our then-seventh-grade son and fourth-grade daughter) conspired to throw one spectacular surprise party for me.
One Friday in September (four months early—the best way to keep a surprise!), I came home from work to find a couple big trucks unloading in our driveway.
Out came band equipment…
inflatable “moon walks” for the kids…
a food tent…
and even some portable “Suburban Sanitation” units. (The Spouse thinks of everything, bless his generous little heart.)
Soon, about 2-300 of our closest friends and neighbors showed up for the main event: a concert by American English, my favorite Beatles tribute band! Our house sits on a little bit of a hill above the field behind us, so our patio made a great stage.
They played a couple hours’ worth of my favorite songs, before a 10-minute rain shower sent everyone running for home. (I was sort of thankful for that. I had visions of happy partiers keeping the neighbors—okay, me—up till all hours.)
Then, “Paul McCartney” came inside and played a brief private concert for the few of us who remained. He even made our sadly-out-of-tune piano sound good!
It was a beautiful evening. So many friends pitched in to help with set-up and food preparation. Some drove a good distance to be there. Many brought very nice gifts (mostly Beatles or garden-related—bonus!). My friend Megan had a special “watering can” cake made for me!
It was a birthday I’ll never forget. And that’s a good thing, because it’s not likely to happen again any time soon.
Oh, well. “Ob-la-di, ob-la-da. Life Goes On…”
