I come to you today with a fuzzy story that had been long forgotten. It easily could have been a story of wild and crazy youths doing wild and crazy things, but it's not. It's a story of one weird yet pretty cool night. Well, as cool as it gets at the age of 13.
I'm actually pretty amazed I remember so much, considering I had forgotten about the whole thing for so many years. What I remember is that it was my 13th birthday party. My mom had set it up to have me and two friends stay at a Ramada Inn suite for a night by ourselves, a night with video games and probably pizza. I remember that it was actually a week before my birthday, for whatever reason, and that just happened to be my good friend Mark Celeskey's birthday, who was one of the two friends I chose to have at my party. The other was Nick Whitford. I don't remember too much about the early part of the party, except that I had brought my Sega Genesis to the room so we could play NCAA College Slam, which I had rented for the weekend. I remember my mom leaving, and I'm pretty sure I remember smoking cigarettes in the room. This might not be true, but I know Nick would not have been a fan of that. If that actually happened, I don't remember, but Mark and I were known to smoke at that young age. In fact, that was pretty much the basis of our friendship. Smoking cigarettes in various hidden places around Negaunee.
What makes this night special is that earlier in the evening, we were in the hotel's pool, swimming, minding our own business, when there were suddenly about 15 girls about our age also in the pool. They were attending a separate birthday party at the same area of the hotel, just across on the other side of the pool. Of course, this send a lot of...feelings into my 13 year old brain. I can assume this was the case for my friends, as well. Well after my mom had left, we managed to contact the girls' room, and I don't remember what was said or who did the talking, but some of the girls ended up in our hotel room. Like, 4 or 5, I'd say. I really don't remember. I don't remember what their names were, what they looked like, or really anything about the girls, except they were from Ishpeming, (the next town over from ours) and I didn't know any of them previously.
Now, I mentioned in the above paragraph that I don't know who did the talking to get these girls into our hotel suite, but I am 100% confidant that it was not me. I couldn't talk to girls. I still wouldn't be the one to talk girls into coming to my party. But there they were, and I didn't know what to do.
Later in the evening, a couple of the girls told us guys that there was something or other going on over in the reception hall area, and there was dancing. They suggested we go dancing with them. So, we did. I don't know why there was dancing, but I remember that there was an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that we had to sit through. I remember people having their chips for sobriety. I remember asking the girls if it was really okay for us to be there, and the girls assuring us that it was fine. And I remember dancing. I don't really understand why there was dancing at an AA meeting. I'm thinking I'm mixing something up, because that doesn't make any sense. I do remember that us kids were the only ones dancing. I haven't been to an AA meeting since.
I also remember at one point trying to climb over a railing, and having a hard time getting my fat, 13 year old body over it. So Mark, always wiling to lend a hand, grabbed my leg and pulled me over the rest of the way, rolling my nuts on the rail, causing me great pain and embarrassment due to the laughing girls. You never forget hurting your nuts while trying to impress girls.
But that's the thing, I don't think I tried to impress any girls. I just didn't have it in me. If I'm not mistaken, Mark ended up with a "girlfriend" out of the night, but none of the girls wanted anything to do with me. I bet if I knew what I was doing, that could have been different. It just wasn't in my nature, and really, it still isn't. I'm lucky I got one to say yes to me, and once she did, I've not let her go for almost 12 years now.
So that's my story of my 13th birthday party. Played some Sega, ate some pizza, danced with some girls at an AA meeting and crushed my balls on a railing. Pretty good night, I'd say. I had totally forgotten about that until yesterday. 13 years later, I had my wedding reception in that very room where we went danced. I wonder if those guys remember? What I really wonder is, who were those girls from that other party? If you are reading this and you were from Ishpeming and went to a birthday party at the Ramada Inn in Marquette on March 23/24, 1996, get at me. Hey, I know chances are slim, but it was a long time ago, maybe we met again later in life? Maybe you remember some of this? That would be pretty awesome.
Have a nice day!
I'm actually pretty amazed I remember so much, considering I had forgotten about the whole thing for so many years. What I remember is that it was my 13th birthday party. My mom had set it up to have me and two friends stay at a Ramada Inn suite for a night by ourselves, a night with video games and probably pizza. I remember that it was actually a week before my birthday, for whatever reason, and that just happened to be my good friend Mark Celeskey's birthday, who was one of the two friends I chose to have at my party. The other was Nick Whitford. I don't remember too much about the early part of the party, except that I had brought my Sega Genesis to the room so we could play NCAA College Slam, which I had rented for the weekend. I remember my mom leaving, and I'm pretty sure I remember smoking cigarettes in the room. This might not be true, but I know Nick would not have been a fan of that. If that actually happened, I don't remember, but Mark and I were known to smoke at that young age. In fact, that was pretty much the basis of our friendship. Smoking cigarettes in various hidden places around Negaunee. What makes this night special is that earlier in the evening, we were in the hotel's pool, swimming, minding our own business, when there were suddenly about 15 girls about our age also in the pool. They were attending a separate birthday party at the same area of the hotel, just across on the other side of the pool. Of course, this send a lot of...feelings into my 13 year old brain. I can assume this was the case for my friends, as well. Well after my mom had left, we managed to contact the girls' room, and I don't remember what was said or who did the talking, but some of the girls ended up in our hotel room. Like, 4 or 5, I'd say. I really don't remember. I don't remember what their names were, what they looked like, or really anything about the girls, except they were from Ishpeming, (the next town over from ours) and I didn't know any of them previously.
Now, I mentioned in the above paragraph that I don't know who did the talking to get these girls into our hotel suite, but I am 100% confidant that it was not me. I couldn't talk to girls. I still wouldn't be the one to talk girls into coming to my party. But there they were, and I didn't know what to do.
Later in the evening, a couple of the girls told us guys that there was something or other going on over in the reception hall area, and there was dancing. They suggested we go dancing with them. So, we did. I don't know why there was dancing, but I remember that there was an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that we had to sit through. I remember people having their chips for sobriety. I remember asking the girls if it was really okay for us to be there, and the girls assuring us that it was fine. And I remember dancing. I don't really understand why there was dancing at an AA meeting. I'm thinking I'm mixing something up, because that doesn't make any sense. I do remember that us kids were the only ones dancing. I haven't been to an AA meeting since.
I also remember at one point trying to climb over a railing, and having a hard time getting my fat, 13 year old body over it. So Mark, always wiling to lend a hand, grabbed my leg and pulled me over the rest of the way, rolling my nuts on the rail, causing me great pain and embarrassment due to the laughing girls. You never forget hurting your nuts while trying to impress girls.
But that's the thing, I don't think I tried to impress any girls. I just didn't have it in me. If I'm not mistaken, Mark ended up with a "girlfriend" out of the night, but none of the girls wanted anything to do with me. I bet if I knew what I was doing, that could have been different. It just wasn't in my nature, and really, it still isn't. I'm lucky I got one to say yes to me, and once she did, I've not let her go for almost 12 years now.
So that's my story of my 13th birthday party. Played some Sega, ate some pizza, danced with some girls at an AA meeting and crushed my balls on a railing. Pretty good night, I'd say. I had totally forgotten about that until yesterday. 13 years later, I had my wedding reception in that very room where we went danced. I wonder if those guys remember? What I really wonder is, who were those girls from that other party? If you are reading this and you were from Ishpeming and went to a birthday party at the Ramada Inn in Marquette on March 23/24, 1996, get at me. Hey, I know chances are slim, but it was a long time ago, maybe we met again later in life? Maybe you remember some of this? That would be pretty awesome.
Have a nice day!
Oh man, I remember the hotel, the pool, the fact that there were girls from another party.... Something vague about the hot tub.... and that's about it... apparently my 12 almost 13 year old brain couldn't get past the fact that there were girls...
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