A Different Kind of Birthday

Friday was uneventful for me, at least. As the last day of my workweek, I try not to schedule any meetings or commit to any deadlines on this day. If any, I treat Friday as clean up day. It's the day I try to patch up lose ends, replying to non-urgent emails, and just getting the small stuff done -- things you normally can't get to the rest of the week. This Friday wasn't any different, except for one event.

Well, the event wasn't mine. It was my son's. Not his really, but he was in it. What I meant was he attended a quite unusual party. The highly charged dance party was to celebrate 2 of his classmates' birthdays. Held at the Cabana Club in Warm Springs, the venue was transformed into a mini discotheque (not that I am dating myself with this word), complete with fancy lights, fog machine, and house music that reverberated  in the otherwise quiet neighborhood. Even the parent-chaperones could not resist swaying their hips a little bit.

The evening was made even livelier with the a dance-off among the party-goers. Special prizes and treats were also being raffled out all throughout the night. Food and drinks (only soda & water for the kids, and an occasional frozen margarita for the adults) were aplenty, and everyone had a sampling of the delicious cake. For souvenirs, coasters, which contained pictures of the birthday boys' classmates, were given away to the guests.

But what makes this birthday party quite unique was that the celebrants requested their guests not to give them personal gifts. Instead, they asked each one to donate needed school and first aid supplies for students of St. Martin de Porres school in Oakland. And the guests responded overwhelmingly, with bags and bags of the needed supplies.

Kudos to these 2 young men (they're teenagers now) for their selfless act of charity, as well as to their parents for guiding them in this endeavor. A class act from a couple of 8th graders, who may have gotten inspiration from the class' Religion & Social Studies teacher -- himself a former teacher at St. Martin. And to the rest of the guests, many thanks for your kind hearts.

Party on !!!

(Note: I like to keep the names of personalities confidential in all my blog posts, in order to maintain the privacy of these individuals, unless I have gotten their permission to mention them by name.)