I mentioned to the wine-tender in Sausalito yesterday that “sixteen years ago today we were giving birth” and she shot me a quizzical look followed by the comment “We? I know you had something to do with it on the front end, but really, ‘we’?” The last thing any of us needed was my response qualifying me as a great birthing coach – my wife knew it and all went well the rest of the afternoon sipping wine along the bay with the Transamerica Building in the background and all the other buildings making up the San Francisco skyline. A few texts out to the girls in New England just to let them know where we were on this special day.
Bonnie really knows how to celebrate a birthday. I’ve celebrated fifty of them and of the twenty-two I’ve enjoyed with my bride many of them are fresh in the memory bank because of the time and care she puts into them. For some reason birthdays are bigger to her than the standard holidays so when the big day rolls along the kids know they’re in for a treat.
Our youngest daughter Logan turned sweet sixteen yesterday and one of the gifts she’s enjoyed since becoming a California resident is having her friend Grace from Mt. Pleasant, SC fly out for a week or so and then Logan flys back to the Lowcountry with her to spend the remaining days of her summer vacation with her friends back where the heat index continues to chase everyone indoors where the air conditioning is working overtime or at the neighborhood pool. Logan is game for either choice.
By Bonnie’s design, birthday gifts come out of everywhere at different times of the day from the moment our little one walks down the stairs in the morning with her “good morning” continuing right up until we hear those words “good night, love you” …
The entire family celebrated Logan’s birthday dinner in a 100 year old building down in Larkspur last night at “The Melting Pot” where our waiter Barney introduced us to decadence of another level. Cheeses, mushrooms, sauces, fish, beef, foul, sausage, shrimp, and assorted oils we only see on the Food Channel. An absolute wonderful affair in this beautifully crafted building that used to be the brick kiln for the area a century ago feeling as though we were underground in this brick tunnel the entire time. A return visit has already been mentally scheduled by the wife and I and the best part … it’s only a short and easy drive south where a visit through Sausalito is always on the radar. Two great cities, one important day before we kiss our little one goodbye before she readies herself for a trip across country on a well-deserved vacation before her junior year at Petaluma High begins in earnest.
The SOX are bludgeoning the Mariners this afternoon and homemade chocolate chip cookies just came out of the oven … the gifts continue.
Happy Sweet Sixteen Logan!
Peace,
Papa
