Turning Twenty-Six

So I turned 26 on Thursday. I was expecting this birthday to pass by without much notice from anybody. I mean, twenty-six is just one of those birthdays that nobody really gets excited about, and I’m okay with that. I was planning on driving from Mom & Dean’s place in Munster, Indiana to Mike & Dawn’s place in Indianapolis. Hedda was flying into Indy that afternoon, and had arranged for Dawn to pick her up. At Dean’s suggestion, I took a long-cut down down US 41 to US 52 and stopped by the Tippecanoe battlefield in Battleground, Indiana. It was a neat place, but I’ll blog about that another time. Hedda was then going to take me to Bazbeaux Pizza on Massachusetts Avenue for dinner.

Bazbeaux has fantastic gourmet pizza’s that are simply the best I’ve ever had. They also serve Jones Soda. To top it off, Bazbeaux is the place Hedda and I met for our first date. So it’s a special treat to go there, and I was excited to spend an uneventful birthday eating pizza with my wife.

When we walked through the door, Hedda walks up to this girl sitting on a stool and starts talking to her. She looks kinda familiar, and I’m not sure who she is, but I think to myself that it’s kinda cool that she happened to see somebody she knows! Then I see Hedda’s brother David, and then I notice Billy, and then I realize what’s happened. I have officially been surprised for my birthday. When all was said and done, something like 15 people showed up!

After pizza, we walked down the street to The Chatterbox, a Jazz club we used to frequent when Hedda lived in Indy while getting her Master’s. Chatterbox is a real jazz club. And I really mean that. It’s dark and smokey inside, and the decor is has the color of deep, red velvet. When we walked in, there was a man passed out with his face in the bar. Ten minutes later, he was on the piano accompanying a bass sax. That’s real jazz.

Interestingly, I claim Chatterbox as the first place I ever got really drunk. Thursday night proved no exception. I got really drunk, and it was fun talking with everybody. And they had some great jazz playing. After that, we returned to Mike & Dawn’s to play Poker.

The next day I was not in good shape. Despite a lot of water and some drugs, I was hungover the entire day. I guess that’s the cost of turning 26. Thanks to everybody who came and surprised me!