Bob的80岁生日在即。他老伴让朋友们写点和在他一同经历过的有趣的故事。

here you go：

Happy Birthday, Bob!

Let’s face it. We just do not go back far enough to relive amazing stories about how we never got out high school diplomas because we got arrested the night before graduation at a wild party that got way out of hand, or about how we were booted from college in our final semester because we took over the college president’s office as we demonstrated against the war in Viet Nam, or about how we had to abort our round-the-world sailing adventure because we remembered, just as we let loose the mooring in Weymouth Fore River, we left the coffee pot on at home.

No, we can only write about the last few years of great dinners and conversation right here in Waquoit. Well, except for 2020 which turned us all into distant, masked hermits so it doesn’t count. One good thing about 2020: it made XX and I realize how much we missed our dinners together. I’ll be honest, though. I mostly miss hearing your say that my grilled swordfish is the best you’ve ever had. (Those probably weren’t your *exact* words--it was probably more like “this stuff reminds me that I’m still looking for great grilled swordfish”--but that’s how I like to remember it.)

Seriously, we’re really looking forward to getting back to normal so we can get together again, tell stories about our past around Boston that, although we did not experience them together at the time, we enjoy remembering together today. And maybe, now and then, XX can toss in a story about growing up in China just to add an Asian flavor to the conversation. But, let us not forget that while multi-cultural stories can add spice to a conversation, there are cultural boundaries that must be respected. Thus, I can promise you that neither Szechuan pepper nor five-spice powder will ever meet the flesh of my grilled swordfish!

Happy birthday, Bob! Hope you have a really great day.

Warmly,

XXXXX, XX and XXX