11
It might have been just my imagination, but Tom seemed to be dragging ass more and more. It made me wonder what I’d be like when I was his age. And what I’d be doing and who I’d be with when I reached the big six-oh.
I asked Theresa if she and Tom had any plans for his birthday.
“Funny you should ask. I was just thinking about throwing a surprise party in the store.”
“That sounds perfect!”
“I’m glad to hear that! I’d like to invite not just his family members and old friends, but also all of our regular guests.”
“How can you keep it a surprise?”
“Well, there’s the old trick – or should I say ‘tricks?’”
“And what would those be?”
“Well, we can hold it a week before his birthday.”
“I like that! It will catch him off guard.”
“And we’ll keep him out of the store when we’re setting up.”
“How would we do that?”
“With my secret weapon: Father Timothy.”
“How do I know that name? Wait! Did he have something to do with damaging some records at the local draft boards?”
“Bingo!”
“Anyway, the two of them have not gotten together for some time, so Timothy agreed to come over to our apartment on Friday the 20th in the late afternoon. I’ll open a bottle of sacramental wine, and suggest that the two of them hang out there while I go to the store to get dinner started. Then, if they came over towards the end of dinner, say around seven p.m., maybe they could help clean up.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“In the meanwhile, I’ve got a list of about a hundred people I want to invite – in addition to our regular guests.”
“Can the store hold that many people?”
“Well, not all of them will be able to come, so there should be enough room. The main thing is to invite Tom’s friends and family, and to surprise the shit out of him.”
“So the dinner guests won’t know about the surprise party until they get there, and the friends and family will be sworn to secrecy.”
“Correct!!”
“So, Father Timothy will be a key player.”
“Yes! And I know he’ll enjoy every minute of it. The two of them go back a long, long way.”
On Friday, May 20th, at four minutes after seven, the lookout spotted Tom and Timothy coming down the street. She could tell even from fifty yards that they might be just a wee bit tipsy. She rushed into the store and gave Theresa the high sign.
Theresa announced to everyone that Tom was about to walk in. By now everyone knew that it was his birthday. As soon as the door opened, and the two of them stumbled in, everyone yelled, “Surprise!”
Tom blinked a couple of times, perhaps checking to see if he was awake. Timothy put his arm around him and announced: “The birthday boy has arrived!”
Theresa rushed up to Tom and gave him a long, long kiss. Everyone cheered. Then Tom looked around, laughing as he pointed at each of his old friends and his brother, his sister, his cousins, and even his favorite aunt.
Then, one-by-one, they came up to him for a hug and wished him a very happy birthday. Then he needed to sit down for a while. He looked exhausted.
Theresa stood behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders. Tom clearly needed a break, so she introduced Father Timothy, and asked him to tell everyone about the good old days.
For the next half hour Timothy told anecdote after anecdote, some of them dating back to their seminary days. He had Tom smiling and nodding, while he himself basked in all the attention.
Then a huge birthday cake was wheeled in and placed in front of Tom. After a rousing “Happy Birthday” was sung, Tom asked Timothy if he had enough wind left to help him blow out the candles. Together, they were certainly up to the task, as everyone cheered.
Then the crowd started chanting, “Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!” until Tom held up his arms in surrender.
“If it’s OK with everyone, I’d like to remain seated. I hope you all can hear me.”
“Tom, we hear yuh and we love yuh!” yelled Bernice.
“Thank you, Bernice! Unlike my dear fellow seminarian, I promise to be very brief.
“To see all of you in this room is like viewing a vast photo album of my entire life. Because you are the most important people – to me, at least – on this planet. Indeed, you are my life.
“Were I as eloquent as Father Timothy, I would thank each of you for enriching and giving meaning to my life. So please, let me pause for a minute or two, to let you imagine how I would be thanking you.
“Now, let me close with the immortal words of a man I always greatly admired, New York Yankee great, Lou Gehrig. ‘I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.’”
I shuddered, remembering that Gehrig died months after he uttered those words. Only now did I realize just how ill Tom was, and how gently and considerately he was bidding farewell to everyone in the room.