Valentines Day

When I was born and my mother suggested naming me after my father, he said no. He said there had already been enough Joseph Benjamin Hewitt’s. So my mother suggested naming me Valentino since I was born on Valentines Day. My father’s response was something along the lines of “You’re not bringing any kid into my house named Valentino.” So Joseph Benjamin Hewitt IV it was.

At first it might seem kind of cool to be born on Valentines Day. You get to be all suave with women, “Hey baby, I was born on Valentines Day” as if that implies something special. But what it really means is that you can’t really ever expect to have a birthday party for yourself. Well at least for a guy anyway. The logic works like this: if you have a significant other you have to take her out to dinner, buy her flowers and such. If you don’t have a significant other you can just forget about any of your friends being able to do something for your birthday because they are all out with their significant others.

There were a few times when I didn’t have a significant other on my birthday when my mother took me out for a birthday dinner, and let me just tell you that being in a restaurant, on Valentines Day, with your mother… I was never sure if people were feeling sorry for having Valentines Day dinner with my mother or thought I was some sort of Gigolo. I’m not actually sure which I would prefer either, I’d rather just not think about it.

Most of times if I do something for my birthday, it’s usually the on weekend before or after. This time however we did have a few people over for dinner. It was pretty cool.