Happy Birthday Dear Mike...Happy Birthday to You!

Today's Blog is dedicated to a friendship of the ages and to celebrate the birthday of that friend. To great friends and what makes a friendship last so long...(Picture: Mike is on the left, with helmet... Tony on right #18)

Before there was "Dumb and Dumber," before Jackasses and Johnny Knoxville...there were two young lads..living in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Mike and Tony met in the fifth grade, circa 1979. As my husband recalls, Mike was clad in an "Elmer Fudd" jacket and slick cowboy boots on a snowy day. The thick flannel jacket was not well received nor were the boots once Mike hit the snow for the first time.

You see, Mike came from New Orleans, Louisiana. Show and Tell consisted of Mardi Gras beads and Doubloons. The beads were all the hit for the girls in class, but Tony remembers that the boys were not as impressed. But, when Mike came to school with a knife (allowed in schools of the Deep South only) he was an "okay kid" after all. He did get in some trouble for bringing the knife, but Mike brought his "Yes Ma'am" and "No Sir" and many colorful stories to the fifth grade class.

Mike, do you remember telling your classmates stories of the Bayou, swamp stories, eating craw fish and po'boys in your homemade lunch? Did you think Tony would trade you a Snack Pack chocolate pudding for that fishy sandwich?


Do you recall your expert marksman days...sharpshooting with a wrist rocket and dry dog food...at your younger brothers? And, when you weren't busy pelting younger siblings with dog food, you and Tony would tie them up in a laundry bag and hang them over the balcony.


All, I have to say is, "Where were your Mothers?"



To tie your own brothers to yourselves and then hit them with a stuffed animal...called the Death Battles.



Ah, you only lived in Grand Junction for three years. but, in those short years, you and Tony bonded. However sick the antics were...you were together and no one can make these stories up.



Remember Cancun and the plans to "windsurf to the nearest island." Your parents rented the windsurfers for the half hour. However, time flies when you are surfing to an island. Eight hours later- tired, sun burnt and hungry...you return, only to get in more trouble. When you got your Dad's new Walkman wet (falling into the pool) and dissembled it to "dry out the parts"...more trouble.



Did you really throw a grasshopper at a window only to break that window? How much did the grasshopper weigh?


Did you really cut your finger whittling a wooden gun, only to cut another finger in the door? Ouch!


Did you jump off a cliff and into a river (Lake City, CO) of freezing, cold water, soooo cold you and Tony had to drift like beached whales to safety, nearly missing a waterfall?


Did you ever drive a car, under aged, no license, in Mexico and drink Pina Coladas?



How 'bout when you and Tony were on a road trip (in the '77 Thunderbird) and you were tired of listening to The Scorpions and tossed the cassette out the window? With the sun visor...and some of the car's roof?



I met you years later, after hearing these stories and thought, Tony must be exaggerating. I was wrong.


1994- Woke up in Lake Powell to your voice, "Ah, Caprice, is Tony awake yet?" All while sitting on his Jet ski, complete with a hole where the nose "once" was. I think you duct taped it. You felt so badly.


And to think you called me "Moonshine" at my wedding.


But, your friendship has stood the test of time. You have known each other longer than your wives. You only lived in the same town for three years, but in those years, you bonded, stayed in touch, were Best Men to each other's weddings and can watch your sons grow up to be just like you. Scary huh?


Fast forward to now...and watching you feed a breakfast consisting of: peanut M&M's and a Sippy cup of Diet Coke to your son, Brody... only to wonder why he is bouncing off the walls for hours. Max and Brody have a lot to live up to.


I knew a Hallmark card could never cover all the memories. I hope you enjoy the Blog. Don't worry, I only have 14 followers and I think two of them are Tony!


To everyone who has a friend like this...cherish them. And, please wish Mike a Happy Birthday!


"Happy Birthday, Mike...to many, more great stories!"