A Birthday

It's frightening to think that you mark your children merely by being yourself.... It seems unfair. You can't assume the responsibility for everything you do -- or don't do.
-- Simone De Beauvoir

Monday, May 17, 1999
One year ago: Magic Eyeball
Two years ago: The Luxury of Giving

Again (see the links from the past above) I hadn't bought birthday presents ahead of time for my younger nephew B----. Again, City Peoples Mercantile came to my rescue, with a Star Wars Episode One dish set, a see-through snap-together model of a bat, a pen that writes in two colors at once, and a soap with a small plastic cat inside it. I also got a small book of the lives of the saints for my nephew J---, who made his first communion yesterday.

We had a nice dinner. Hot dogs for the kids, chicken italian sausages for the adults, fruit salad, green salad, potato chips -- the menu was ordered up by the birthday boy. Amazing to think of him being six years old! Cake and ice cream, then we opened the presents.

A---, my festival buddy, was there. He's a long-time friend of my brother-in-law and sister, too. We'd originally thought that we'd go to one of the nine-thirty festival movies, but A--- had been at the press screenings during the day, so he decided he was too tired. J--- drove him home. I stayed, reading a Chinaberry Books catalog while my sister played a new board game (one of the birthday presents) with the two boys. Just reading the descriptions of the picture books can make me cry, they are so touching (and I'm so susceptible).

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News from Jack. I didn't mention that A---, his older daughter, ran away again last Friday. New job, trying to move, and now this! He's very frustrated about it all. He asked me if I had any recent pictures of her, to put up on flyers, and I did have some. When I called him up, he was on his way down to Olympia, since she'd been found. She's safe, but there are still a lot of problems.

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Since none of the movies really appealed to me, I decided to go dancing at the Century Ballroom. It's been too long since I was out dancing! I had fun -- I was just filled with joy from the music and the movement. I quizzed folks for their impressions of all the dancing that had gone on over the weekend. It would have been nice to have been there, but one can't do everything!