Birthday Are Greek To Me

Tomorrow is my father George’s birthday, and it's hard to believe he is in his ninth decade.  He still drives his own car with the top down and acts like a much younger man. The true "Grecian Formula" may be the tradition of Name Days. Your Name Day is set by the saint you are named for and by that saint’s feast day. Traditionally name day are celebrated instead of birthdays, and years are not counted.

I know my Greek grandparents Pete and Pota probably did not know their own ages except that he was somewhat older than his bride.  When Pete had to fill out official documents here in America,  he made himself younger for insurance agents and older for census takers.

When Pete was about eighty in the 1950s, he had to go take the newly implemented driver’s test at the DMV on Indiana Avenue. George took him over there and watched through a little window. He saw his father was struggling. Even after forty some years in Washington, Pete still didn't have a firm grasp on the English language. After a few minutes,  somehow George managed to meet Pete in the bathroom. He proudly recounts that “they” got a 98 out of 100.

Next came the driving portion which involved a lot of orange cones. Pete hit every one. Fortunately, the inspector had been a customer at Churchill’s Bar and Grill, the family restaurant. George took the man aside and promised him that his father would only be driving to St. Sophia’s and to his daughter’s house and only on Sundays. He passed.

At that point in his life, Pete was wielding a large Cadillac which he kept in a tiny garage with tires hanging on the walls as parking cushions. George says he often drove right over the curb into Aunt Catherine’s yard, and she would yell at him from her kitchen window.

George is still passing any driving tests he has to take. He was born in DC where we have birth certificates, and we celebrate birthdays. George remembers he often received a five dollar gold piece on his birthday. He gave them all away over the years, but wishes he had kept one. To this day he gives his grandchildren and other kids he loves "gold" dollars as gifts. His favorite present, however, was the birthday gift that he bought himself at the age of eighteen: a used 1932 maroon DeSoto with black fenders.