My 62nd birthday is this week, and I’m doing my show Sunday from my friend Deann and Matt’s house to celebrate our birthdays (Deann’s is in early May). That has me thinking about birthdays and how we celebrate and about time passing. I don’t usually make a big deal about birthdays. I’ve worked almost all of mine as an adult. I do remember one birthday where the bar where I was playing that night decorated the bar with birthday decorations and a big banner that said “Happy Birthday, Tom!” on it. That would seem to be a nice thing to do, but it kind of backfired in that everybody, drunk or sober, who entered the bar for the whole night made a big todo about it. That got a little old by the end of the night as the crowd got more inebriated. They all wanted to buy me drinks and get me drunk too, and I had learned early on that I don’t play well at all if I drink. But most of my birthdays Jen and I have tried to take a day trip or go to a nice restaurant. We don’t exchange gifts since we saw what expectations and disappointments did to other couples we know. But besides that, what does a birthday really represent? It’s always just been a marker for me that makes me take stock a little bit in my health and accomplishments, and for the most part I don’t feel my age. I don’t think anyone does. My health is relatively good since we work hard at staying in shape and eating right. A little luck and decent genetics don’t hurt either. I guess we really should make more of birthdays - at least in that it’s an excuse to something fun and maybe frivolous. What is life without some goofy enjoyment sometimes? I play for a lot of monthly birthday parties at my senior facilities, and I always tell my residents who don’t really want to be reminded that they’re a year older that it’s just a reason to have a party. So here’s to being a year older, being hopefully a little wiser, and being able to enjoy our lives and a good time.
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What have I been up to?
I had 11 senior facilities this past week, and they were all really enjoyable. Several are still requiring masks although one of them was also a celebration of one of their residents coming out of isolation, and they also announced at the party that the county mask mandate had been lifted. So removing masks was a real cause for celebration. Hopefully they won’t have to go back to masks too soon so they can enjoy a little freedom for a while.
My Wednesday online show was doing a second night of Lying, Cheating, and Leaving songs, and we really had a good time once again. It’s amazing how you can take a dark subject and have fun with it.
My Sunday online show was favorites and requests, and I also debuted a new howling song that I wrote on Saturday. I know you might be wondering why we’re still howling at 8:00 since the pandemic is more-or-less over, but we still do it as a matter of course to try to spread good energy and to be thankful for all we’ve been through. It’s funny how traditions can be so strong and so reassuring.
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What am I up to this week?
I have 10 senior facilities this week, and I’m looking forward to all of them. We’re doing Spring songs and starting to do Mother’s Day songs, so there’s lot of joyful stuff to sing and share.
My Wednesday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be doing ‘60s rock and roll tunes at the request of one of our group. I really like doing these fun tunes, and I’m sure it’ll be a banner night for good songs and good memories. Come on out!
My Sunday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be favorites and requests done remotely at Deann and Matt’s as I wrote above to celebrate our birthdays. I’m sure we’ll have lots of camaraderie and sweet moments of friendship and song. You’re always welcome!
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That’s it for this week. I hope you can enjoy your birthday whenever it comes this year. It’s so easy to not let ourselves enjoy the simple things of our lives.
Best always,
Tom
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Details this week:
Who: Tom Munch
What: playing and singing an online concert of ‘60s Rock songs
Where: facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts
When: Wednesday, April 26, 7-8:45 pm mountain time
Who: Tom Munch
What: playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests
Where: facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts
When: Sunday, April 30, 7-8:45 pm mountain time