Linkmeister

Memorable parties

Here's a birthday story from a weekend not so long ago. A few years back, my favorite cousin decided to throw a party to celebrate hers. It was one of those awful ones that end in zero, so it was a big deal. There would be a small group of friends (20, maybe), and they'd all meet at a local Los Angeles restaurant for wine, cheese, and the rest. However, there was a catch; absolutely, positively, on pain of ostracism at least and who knows what at most, no presents were to be bought for her. None, zero, zip, nada. Cards were acceptable, hugs demanded, but no presents. Fine, we all agreed, that won't be done.

Comes the day. I cashed in some frequent flier miles and found a freebie with a sister hotel (I was working for one here at the time), so I flew to the West Coast to attend. I arrived Saturday morning on the red-eye, crashed for most of the day, and then headed out to the party that evening. I did have a lei for her; I concluded that wasn't breaking the "no presents" rule, and besides, what woman (unless allergic) could resist a fragrant garland of flowers draped around her neck? So I arrived at the restaurant in my rental car (the only major expense on the entire trip, mind you) and met up with the birthday girl, her husband, and a slew of people who knew and loved them. When she finally decided there weren't any more folks likely to arrive, what did she do but dig around under the table and start giving presents to all the attendees! Moreover, these were not generic gifts; each one had been selected with some thought about the recipient's likes and dislikes. I'm a reader, and I like mysteries, so for me she found a hardbound collection of short stories, all of them in the hard-boiled detective genre like Chandler, Hammett, etc. It was perfectly suited for me, and everyone else got something equally well suited to his or her own tastes.

Best birthday idea I've ever heard of.