Celebrating Life's Milestones: Birthday Reflections at 64

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episode today . This past week , I celebrated a birthday , number 64 . I went to renew my license . She goes four or eight years . I said eight years . She said this is the last time you can do it for eight years . I looked at her . She was a young lady . I said oh , too old she goes . Yeah , we need to check your eyes more often .

Okay , I'm good with that .

If you followed along on my last short episode about my first job , you know that in 2023 , for Christmas , my daughter Lauren gave me the gift of StoryWorth . You can find them at storyworthcom . She basically gave me 53 questions to answer . She knows I'm a big fan of people's stories , so I'm hopeful she just wanted some of my stories .

Since it was my birthday week , I thought I would go back to one of her questions and maybe it'll make you think about your birthdays . Maybe you have great memories ? I hope you do . The question was describe one of your most memorable birthdays . Now , I could come up with a lot of memorable birthdays from my childhood . Here is how my story

went . I've had a lot of wonderful birthdays . One that stands out was my 40th . It seemed like a milestone birthday . I remember when I was a young boy I thought people were really old at 40 . I've changed my mind now that I just turned 64 . My wife went all out for my 40th . She pulled a large number of our friends together .

Our house at the time did not support the 20 or so people she invited . She had us all cram into our small family room . It was actually a porch many years before that someone had enclosed . Our TV at that time is one that she and I had bought early in our marriage . It was a Sony TV . It was heavy , not like today with the flat screens .

I'm guessing maybe it was 20 , 26 inches , I'm not sure I know . One person couldn't pick it up . It was too heavy . I could not figure out why she'd crammed us all into this tiny space . We'd been enjoying ourselves in the dining room , the living room . She proceeded to turn on the TV and start a video playing . It was on a VHS back in those days .

I still have it . She had gathered photos of my life , including photos with people who were in the room . As I watched the video , memories flooded back in my mind of my life . There were pictures of friends I had known for years , pictures of family and pictures of me .

I was reminded of the final scenes in A Wonderful Life , the quote from Clarence the Angel . In a wonderful life , the quote from Clarence the Angel . Remember no man is a failure who has friends , and I felt very fortunate to have friends around me that night . I received some nice gifts , some books and wonderful cards .

The one gift that I'll always remember is the one Linda bought me . She was sending me to a three-day class at Skip Barber Racing School at my favorite track , mid-ohio in Lexington , ohio . I then received a book from my brother titled Going Faster , by Skip Barber . It contained a note that he would be attending the class also , which made it even better .

Another birthday weekend that I'll always remember

Linda and I were in Chicago for my birthday . I was 50 years old . We wanted to do something for fun . I did a quick search for tickets and found that Rod Stewart was in town at the arena , I was able to snag two tickets fairly close to the stage . We had seen Rod on a number of occasions , but this one seemed special with it being my birthday .

You may know that Rod kicks out soccer balls into the audience . At least he used to . I don't know if he still does . I had never been close to one he kicked , but this night I was and I was within inches of catching the ball . Actually , I think I touched it with the tip of my finger . At least that is the way I remember it .

If any of you know Rod Stewart , maybe you could have him send me a soccer ball . I once spent my birthday in Haiti with my family , celebrating with a large group of Haitians , who made me feel very special .

Another memorable birthday was when my wife took me to a Reds game on my birthday , which was a bucket list item for me to see a baseball game on my birthday . My wife knows that I prefer experiences over material things , and I've already shared some of those memorable moments . My 2019 birthday was another fantastic experience .

After having dinner with our children , we were driving home . She was driving when I decided to check out concerts in our area , I discovered that the Eagles would be performing at Rupp Arena in Lexington in April . I had seen them in Rupp Arena back in 1979 and I thought wouldn't it be fun to see them 40 years later .

When we got home , we enjoyed cake and ice cream . Linda handed me a card I think I might have made some comment about oh , just a card , and inside were two tickets to see the Eagles . It was an incredible surprise and made my birthday unforgettable . In 2024 , she surprised me once again with another amazing experience .

She and my brother's wife gifted each of us a one-day BMW M experience at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . I had the opportunity to spend the day with my brother driving BMWs on the iconic road course at the Speedway . It was an unforgettable day and my brother and I had the time of our lives . It was a birthday I will never forget

. I grew up in a home where birthdays were celebrated . My parents and my brother share April birthdays . Actually , my dad and brother have the same birthday . My grandma would make the cakes On many occasions . Cousins and friends would gather around the table in the small kitchen to celebrate .

I have enjoyed many birthdays with my own family , which I hold dear to my heart . I hope you have wonderful memories of your birthdays . Thank you for tuning in to Dan the Road Trip Guy . I hope you enjoyed our journey today and the stories that were shared . If you have any thoughts or questions or stories of your own , I'd love to hear from you .

Feel free to reach out to me anytime . Don't forget to share this podcast with your friends and family and help us to spread the joy of road trips and great conversations . Until next time , keep driving , keep exploring and keep having those amazing conversations . Safe travels and remember you can find me on the internet at dantheroadtripguycom .