Los Angeles, California
I believe, fervently, in celebrating birthdays. And I should amend that statement to read celebrating birth months. So when the 'big' birthdays roll around, I am all in on the festivities. As I have written here before, Joel's birthday is just two days before Independence Day (mine just two days before Halloween), so it ties in with a lot of fireworks, flags, and general hoopla. This birthday also fell in the middle of the World Cup games, adding to the elation of this season.
We don't travel at this time of the year. It's family travel time, so a good time not to do so. Our usual celebration for both birthdays is going out for oysters then to a club for dancing. With dancing clearly on the back burner, we discussed alternatives and came up with... going out for oysters, solamente. And that we did. It is also soft-shell crab season, so we headed out to our local seafood restaurant, found a place at the bar so we could watch yet another soccer game, and indulged.
Joel had remarked that it wasn't a big deal to him to have this birthday 'tradition.' But it is to me. Traditions have always been important, and I come by this rightly. My mom was big on these things, and our family celebrated many events in the same way each year. Mom was a lover of green corn tamales at El Cholo, and these were (and maybe still are, I have no idea) seasonal with the season commencing June 1st. Since her birthday was June 2, that was our tradition for her birthday. It was unquestioned, just as having fish for Christmas Eve was the constant for that holiday. At some point my sister had rebelled against most of our family traditions, attempting to manipulate them with her ever-changing food 'allergies.' But we weren't having any of that.
Besides being our birthdays' tradition, oysters work for us. They are among the very few celebratory foods that Joel and I can share. Not to put too fine a point on this, but Joel is a bit picky. He eats no finned fish, only shellfish. He does eat caviar, but going out for caviar is an even spendier experience than oysters, so we save that for caviar and champagne nights at home.
In addition to the oyster night (no salsa), we went out twice to watch World Cup games. Both times to a restaurant where we go often enough to know the bartender and for him to know what we drink without our ordering: Modelo Negra for J; Casamigos reposado for me. And, we topped off the weekend by attending a Dodgers game and seeing their first extra-innings game of the season, which included a home run by Ohtani in front of thousands of Ohtani-jersey clad fans (including me!). There in the Executive Club section where we sit, our bartender, Bradley, also knows my drink: Hibiki. And, Modelo for J.
I was grateful that this was a good birthday for Joel. Both because it was just before his surgery and also because I felt I fell down on the job on his big 50th. I was in the throes of selling my business at that time, and it was extremely stressful. I don't think I was able to concentrate on making that event very special. For this one, I think I did us proud. And I am happy to think that Joel is finally catching up to my age. To quote Monty Python: Wink, wink. Nod, nod...
