By: Kenneth E. Boone, Sr.
This coming Saturday, I’ll celebrate my 66th birthday! I won’t have a party, which suits me just fine. And I probably won’t receive random and/or unsolicited well wishes on social media. To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I'm Ken Boone and this is my Podcast, “MUCH MORE TO SAY” As I mentioned to you many times, I've only had three birthday parties in the first 65 years I have been on this earth. On last year’s “birthday episode” of this show, I focused more on the gifts I received. On this episode, I will provide you with the back story, as well what each party had in common with the others. The first party was when I was 10 years old. Although I enjoyed myself, something seemed to be missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it until I hit adulthood. Only friends from my church came to the party. No neighborhood friends attended. I don’t know if they weren’t invited, or that they just didn’t show up. My guess is that they weren’t invited. That’s strange, because more neighborhood friends attended my mother’s funeral, which took place when we were all in our 40s. At the time of that party, the Boys’ Choir I sang in was one of the most important things in my life, and most of the attendees were members of that choir as well. In hindsight, there was nothing nefarious about the guest list. It was a music thing. The second party was a surprise party thrown for me when I was in my early 20s. That one took place during my “wannabe musician” phase. It was well-attended, and I remember getting some cool stuff, although I can't recall what I got. I call that my “wannabe musician” phase because, at the time, I was part of three musical groups, writing songs, and “fat-fingering” my way across the Great New York City area on any piano I was allowed to play. As with my first party, I had a music connection with most of the guests. Again, it was a music thing. The third party was a surprise dinner celebrating my 50th birthday, planned by my ex, and the guest list was quite small. My buddy Pete and his family were there. It was then that I realized that we were best friends. He gave me a coffee table book of biographies of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, which I still have today! Back then, I could best be described as a “dugout/bleacher dad”, since the focus of my life was making sure my son was still playing baseball. That’s because if he was playing, I knew that he would keep his grades up and graduate on time. Believe it or not, that strategy worked. Since I’ve told you the story of Pete many times on multiple podcast episodes, I’ll give you the Readers’ Digest version. We met when our sons played on the same summer league team. We were doting fathers who loved baseball and we were both obsessed with music. At the time, he was a record label owner looking for an accountant, while I was an accountant looking to get back in the music industry. I ended up keeping his label’s books for over a decade until he recently sold the company. So, I guess you could say that my third and final birthday “party” was a music thing as well. Saturday is set up to be a great birthday, but not my best to date. That honor goes to my 65th when I became an official Senior Citizen! But this year won’t be terrible. I’ll be another year older and wiser. Not to mention that Uncle Sam gave us Social Security beneficiaries a raise, offset by a small increase in my monthly Medicare premium. That’s no big deal because I’m still coming out ahead. Parting Shots My birthday is still very important to me, although I don’t do much in the way of celebration. I’ll probably order take-out and watch the NFL playoffs, and a couple of Hallmark movies. That’s keeping things simple. Next year, Presidential Inauguration Day falls on my birthday. I hope to really celebrate birthday number 67, if my guy just happens to win re-election. That’ll be my wish when I blow out the candle on my cupcake this Saturday. Today's Quote “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take my breath away.” Maya Angelou – American Author and Social Commentator
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About the HostKenneth E. Boone, Sr. is a writer, podcaster, music lover, sports enthusiast, and retired accountant. Archives
April 2024
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