Funny Guy Friday… Birthday musings...

     It was on August 16th, many, many years ago, when an event occurred that changed the course of history. Every year on this date, people come from miles around to celebrate a life of an individual that still, to this very day, brings joy to people from all walks of life. Handsome, talented, kind, a trail blazer are all words that have been used to describe our hero. August 16th is my birthday and the individual that I am describing is, of course… Elvis Presley.
     That's right, Elvis died on my birthday.
     I was never a big Elvis fan and even less so because he ruined my birthday. I remember driving down to the beach and hearing about it on the radio. That was all they were talking about… The King is dead. Long live the King!
     Yeah, whatever!
     I was with my family and my best friend getting ready to spend a week in Ocean City. Ahhh... my birthday week at the beach. A time for the spotlight to be on me. Then all of the sudden, Elvis passes out on the toilet and can't be revived and the best laid plans of mice and men blah blah blah.
     Although I haven't heard from him yet, every year I get a call from that same friend wishing me a Happy Elvis Death Day!
    Just for fun, I looked up some articles from the day that Elvis died, and one line caught my attention. It read, Prescription drug abuse compromised his health and he died.  Yeah, I'll say. Dying can be pretty compromising to one's health.
     I resent Elvis and I have always secretly hoped that some celebrity would meet his demise on July 12th so that I, too, could call my friend on his birthday and wish him a Happy Celebrity Death Day. But who could be bigger than the King of Rock and Roll?
     When I first heard on the radio that Michael Jackson had been rushed to the hospital, I was surprised and saddened. But after the initial shock wore off, I am ashamed to admit that I thought to myself, If he can just hang in there for a few more days, I'll have my man. The King of Pop trumps the King of Rock and Roll. Happy Michael Jackson Death Day has a pretty good ring to it! Unfortunately, Michael could not hang on past June 25th.
     I don't know a single person that was born on June 25th.
     So, how does one go about celebrating his birthday in such a fashion that it overshadows a celebrity death day? This year, we went out to dinner on August 15th. That was okay because it pre-empted all the radio tributes, but it was not the same.......it was not really my birthday. This year, I just decided that I was going to treat August 16th just like every other day... why fight it?
     Then I remembered that I might be getting some facebook action.
     You know, I always get reminders about people's birthdays, and I occasionally send out a birthday greeting. Perhaps, I too, will receive some facebook birthday love.
     I checked it out and at first the wishes were slow to arrive but as I returned to facebook throughout the day, I was getting more and more birthday greetings. I received wishes from my family, from friends, from kids that I have coached over the years, from parents of kids that I coached over the years, even from old girlfriends. Heck, I received wishes from kids that I attended elementary school with and have not seen for years.
     Each greeting brought with it some old memory and a smile. Some even brought about a good laugh.
     I am not a huge "modern technology" guy, but this facebook is awesome. I am sold, modern technology is the way to go.
    Thank you to all my facebook well-wishers, you made my day.
    Hey, it gets even better. My daughter Grace just told me she just looked on the Internet and found that several celebrities were actually born on my birthday... and did not die on my birthday. She found that Madonna (the singer, not the Holy Mother) was born on my birthday. And Frank Gifford and his wife Kathie Lee Gifford were both born on my birthday. That is all pretty cool and brought to you via the worldwide web.
    Maybe Elvis isn't so bad. It wasn't really his fault he died on my birthday. Maybe modern technology isn't so bad. It brought me some much-appreciated love and attention.    
    Well, it is getting late and I am going to bed.
    Who would have thought that modern technology would be the key to my forgiving Elvis and to my having a happy birthday?

   You are not going to believe this... I just got a text from my best friend:  Just passed Ocean Pines, remembered to wish you a Happy Elvis Death Day! 

   Except for the thank you's, forget about what I just said.
   I hate Elvis Presley!  I hate modern technology!