While we're on the subject of 16th birthdays, I remember my 16th birthday like it was yesterday (yes that's a bit cliche' but it's true) for a couple of reasons.
The 1st reason was the surprise 16th birthday party my parents pulled off for me (who knew parents could be cool when you're 16 AND pull off a surprise party). My mom had secretly moved my clock back by an hour or so AND had managed to get a boat load of my friends over to the house BEFORE school to surprise me when I came downstairs. Of course my mom had all this awesome food & table set-up (like she always did for pretty much any meal) and everything was perfect.
The 2nd reason was getting my drivers license ... excited and nervous at the same time. I really remember this day like it was yesterday so bear with me on the details.
I'm in Typing 1 (yes with electric typewriters) and my mom comes to pick me up in the middle of class so everyone knows I'm going in for my drivers test. I'm sure my mom was coaching me the entire way because her whole life she never received a ticket and no I'm not kidding and yes, she liked to tell us that. So ... at the DMV (the old 18th Expressway location) .... it's old and gross in there and no one is nice. I take the test and pass. Check. Now for the drivers test.
Picture this ... I'm in a 2 door Oldsmobile Delta 88 ... light blue ... with crush velour seats. Nice. The drivers test guy goes through the safety checks and everything's going smoothly until we get to testing the horn ... really? A horn test? Well, I go to honk the horn and nothing. Okay, so it's broken ... let's get on with the test. The super cool 'Barney Fife'-like drivers test guy says, "No can do miss. Not with a broken horn." Again, really? Super. The worst part was not really getting to take my drivers test but going back to school where everyone was waiting (or so it felt) to see my drivers license. And to top it all off, I'm sure I'd had changed several times that morning to be sure my picture was perfect. Talk about embarrassing!
Talk about a day of surprises ... all in all, I survived and still had friends and had the pleasure of returning for my drivers test with our lovely wood paneled, diesel station wagon complete with an alarm ... and I passed.
Learning to handle the little letdowns along the way is always challenging but after I've gotten through it, it's really not that bad. I have my health, my family and blessed with more than I could ever imagine.
So Happy 16th Birthday Gus and may your life be full of 'sweet surprises' that continue to help you grow & be stronger! Bring on the surprises!
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