I was invited to a birthday party for my uncle Melvin. He was turning 55; he is the baby on my mom’s side of my family, so we go all out… My uncle’s wife owns her own personal healthcare and transporting business and she invited them as well. I had my kids that were over 20 years old with me and my mom too. Everyone was instructed to wear white but I did not have any white clothing, and decided I was not going to buy a special outfit just for one night so I threw on something I had in the closet. The party had fake paparazzi or photogs taking pictures of people. His wife, my aunt, gave away free champagne and lemonade, but all other options were at the cash bar. The event was held at a hotel convention room he had at least 500 people in attendance because my uncle is well-known in the city of Indianapolis, everybody says he looks like uncle Charlie, aka Charlie Wilson, singer and founding member of the Legendary Gap Band (which is my uncle's favorite band).

The people that were there were mostly black with sprinkles of white, Hispanic, Indian, and Asian. My aunt Vanessa did an amazing job keeping the party from my uncle because he kept calling people asking them what he was getting for his birthday like a big kid. The guests got there before the guest of honor — a mere two hours prior to his arrival. The organizers fed and liquored us up before he got there so we would be all amped and ready to party. When he walked into the building some people were already falling over drunk! My uncle even has an old-school pimp from the 70s as a friend.

You know the old saying: birds of a feather flock together?

Most of the people there were family and we have a large family, many people traveled from all over to help my uncle celebrate his special day. I tried to get a picture on the red carpet but it cost $10 per picture. Since I am a college student and mother I do not have that type of money to waste on frivolous pursuits.

Food was a whole other endeavor. My aunt Vanessa had shrimp and meatballs as an appetizer, and then the main courses were spaghetti, chicken and/or fish. She ordered boxed wine, red and white, and lemonade for us broke folks and had a cash bar with everything else for the rich or well-to-do people on the VIP list.

My uncle was extremely surprised and amazed by all the hoopla surrounding his birthday. Melvin did not expect such a big turn out because he had left his playboy days in the past because he had gotten married a couple of years ago to a woman who would not put up with him dating other women.

The family was so grateful to aunt Vanessa for being a grounded presence in his life. He had been married before to his late wife (God rest her soul), but both of them were volatile together not domestic, they were better apart.

I believe that the main sociological perspective that I saw at the birthday party was symbolic interactionism because there was fun, laughs, singing dancing and no fighting or fussing and people behaved their best and looked their best. The night ended when his wife, my aunt who presented him with a blue Harley Davidson motorcycle. He was so geeked about this gift that he kept partying like it was 1999 (Ode to Prince, RIP).

When I grow up I want to be just like my aunt Vanessa.