Ah yes, the 5th of May; how do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? I have some memories…
One of my oldest friends was born on this day. When I say oldest, I mean I’ve known him since I was 5 years old. Actually, my other oldest friend was in the same kindergarten class, while the 5th of May guy was in the other; we all attended 1st-8th grade together. Haven’t seen him in a while; we talk a few times a year, this being one of those days. It’s the type of friend where you just pick up where you left off; the type of friend that knows who you really are. I’m lucky to have a few of those; one other really good friend that I met in high school. My two “best” friends growing up, I no longer talk to. One moved away in 6th grade I think, but then we ended up back at the same high school and reconnected, but then kind of split from there. Another, I met in 8th grade, went to high school together, and lived with for a number of years; we had a falling out I guess you could say… it’s unfortunate. It sucks to think about the next time that we may see each other will be at somebody’s funeral…
But yeah, with my one buddy’s birthday being on May 5th, he always had his own “private party” each year. Can’t recall if I told this story before or not…after writing so much, who knows what the hell I’ve shared… but we’d stand out in front of his house on Cermak avenue (Heart of Chicago, better known as Pilsen nowadays I guess) and watch the parade go by. I ended up living on Cermak, right down the street from the house my friend grew up in, who actually had an apartment on Cermak as well… funny. Anyways, yeah, lemonade and vodka wasn’t necessarily the traditional drink of the day, but we indulged; we couldn’t drink our Coronas that much in the open. He’s doing well though, really well; happy for him. Glad to still be good with each other all these years later; look forward to our next card game… it’s been too long.
Other memories that come back on this day, sports related, are around the big boxing match of the year; I remember one in particular. I was living in Burbank, CA; threw some skewers on a little smoky joe outside my apartment complex. My girlfriend, now wife, came over; one of my neighbors came up to watch the fight. I believe it was Mayweather-De Le Hoya. The reason I’m not 100% sure is because of the pre-fight cocktailing going on. I had one of those big plastic sports cups full of 7-7; Seagram 7 and 7up. Not sure how many of those I downed, and with the sun beating down on me, there wasn’t enough skewers to keep me sober. It was not pretty; one of the infamous nights between my wife and I. Safe to say, I don’t drink 7-7s to this day… haha. We survived though; we always do.
Of course the real celebration behind Cinco de Mayo, per Wikipedia, is the celebration of the Mexican defeat of the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It isn’t even a formally observed holiday in Mexico, other than the states of Puebla (duh) and Veracruz. It has turned into another St. Patrick’s Day/drinking holiday around these parts; like we need more reasons… It’s fun though. Funny enough, the last memory I have on this day that comes to mind is this is the day that I proposed to my wife (spoiler alert: she said yes)… yeah, even on that same day years later from the infamous 7-7 day. Hey, whatever works man. Enjoy!
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