The Party by Michael King

As a child my mother would make a two tiered angel food cake for my birthday. That was all I had ever known about birthday parties. Later when my children were growing up they got to have the dessert of their choice. It wasn’t until my oldest daughter’s eighteenth birthday that friends and guests were invited and fortunately by the time they arrived I had returned from the emergency room. As a finishing touch I had been blowing up balloons when one burst and sliced the front of my eye. It did heal and my vision was actually better afterwards.

Of course there are many kinds of parties and most that I went to was later in my life, however there had been a few while I was in the military. But the most memorable was a surprise birthday party on my 35th birthday.

I had never experienced a birthday with friends to celebrate it with. So I was totally surprised when people started showing up with gifts and cards. . We lived in Hawaii and had a nice house where we could entertain quite a few people, and did so occasionally. We had been somewhere and when we got home there was a long stemmed red rose and a birthday card from a friend of ours. Inside the card was a hundred dollar bill. I was practically in a state of shock, and had no idea what was to come. I just felt overwhelmed and laid on the bed clutching the rose and fell asleep.

When I woke up someone was at the door, then more and more. In all about 60 people arrived and never before having received a birthday present, I now received about 60. One of my daughters told me my face was going to crack from the big smile I had.

After that I valued birthday parties, entertaining and became quite the party giver. My realtor was so impressed when I gave a house colding party when I sold a condo, that they sold their large home with acreage, which was high maintenance and primarily for giving parties, and bought a townhouse. She figured that if I could give a nice party for 50 in a one bedroom condo, she could do it in a townhouse.

I used to love to entertain, have parties and numerous weddings at our house; however we had the space to do so. Now Merlyn and I seldom entertain more than one or two people, but we do go to events and parties fairly often.

About the Author

I go by the drag name, Queen Anne Tique. My real name is Michael King. I am a gay activist who finally came out of the closet at age 70. I live with my lover, Merlyn, in downtown Denver, Colorado. I was married twice, have 3 daughters, 5 grandchildren and a great grandson. Besides volunteering at the GLBT Center and doing the SAGE activities," Telling your Story"," Men's Coffee" and the "Open Art Studio". I am active in Prime Timers and Front Rangers. I now get to do many of the activities that I had hoped to do when I retired; traveling, writing, painting, doing sculpture, cooking and drag.