Happy Birthday Thumper – Part II

Note: Please read Ref No: J25 and Happy Birthday Thumper-Part I before reading this entry.

After Joan and Bill left, I slipped into some old sweats, poured a glass of wine, dimmed the lights and put on some music. As I sipped my wine, Sonny and Cher droned out I Got You Babe on the record player and I was feeling mellow and thankful that I elected to stay home. As the shrill ring of the telephone cut through the music, I knew it would be M calling to say goodnight. I was right – it was him, but instead of calling to say goodnight, he informed me the second portion of his mission had been cancelled and he was back at the base on Ft. Rich. Happy Birthday to Me…. He said he was tired and was going to grab a quick shower. “How about I pick you up, we go back to my place and order in? Oh, and Happy Birthday Thumper. I’ll make it up to you next week-end – okay?” That was fine with me. I was just happy he was back and I wouldn’t spend my birthday alone.

We walked down the hall and approached M’s apartment and he dropped the keys as he was trying to unlock the door. I laughed and teased him about being uncoordinated as he opened the door and I preceded him inside. The lights flashed on to a loud chorus of “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”. There were Donna and her husband, Joan and Bill and several other friends of ours all sitting in M’s living room. I hadn’t suspected a thing and was speechless for a moment. No one had ever done anything like this for me. I remembered how lonely and hurt I had felt earlier when everyone seemed to have somewhere to go and somebody to go with except me. Come to find out, they were all rushing to M’s to surprise me.

As I took in the scene, I saw a large amateur painting of an adorable rabbit leaning against the wall with “Happy Birthday Thumper” written across the top – my birthday card from M. There were many more gifts and cards surrounding the painting. I was completely speechless and suddenly aware of how gorgeous everyone else looked as I stood there in my sweatpants! Joan laughingly told me not to worry, that she had brought everything I would need to make myself presentable – clothes, shoes and make-up – stashed it in the next room.

We had endless bottles of champagne and I had my first taste of caviar which I thought highly overrated. I knew this was the way I wanted to feel and the way I wanted to live. After a while, we left for the Officers Club where M had arranged a private section for us and where several other friends were waiting. We had dinner and the evening continued with more wine, dancing and tons of special song requests to the band. It was the most perfect evening.

At some point I found myself up on the bandstand singing with the band. Talk about the perfect ending to the perfect evening. I had always dreamed of singing with a band and not only was I doing it, people were applauding – and not just my friends either! The guys in the band said they were looking for a vocalist and did I think I might be interested. We ended the evening by exchanging phone numbers and making plans to talk further. We closed down the Offices Club and had a loud and wet snowball fight walking back to M’s.

I have had many birthdays since then and the people who were there and shared that experience with me are no longer part of my life. But I have never forgotten that night and how special I felt. I will always be grateful for that. And I shall always be grateful to M for caring enough about me to want me to feel that special.

The last time I saw him, he had just completed some special helicopter training at Ft. Rucker and had orders for Vietnam. I don’t know how he found me, as I had returned to the lower states some time prior to that. But he did find me and called and asked if he could come to see me before he returned to Alaska for deployment to Vietnam. I wasn’t sure how I would feel when I saw him again. A lot of life was lived between that party and the night I waited for his knock on the door. The time disappeared when I opened the door to that familiar smile and “Hi Thumper”.