Happy Birthday, Paul

Today is Sir Paul McCartney’s biggest fan’s birthday – Paul S.

Paul has been a fan of the Beatles and every member of the Beatles since I have known him. Paul knows everything about them – their songs, their relationships, the inspiration for a particular song, what instrument was played on every song – including the brand of guitar. Paul probably knows what John and Paul ate for breakfast on the morning they wrote Hey Jude.

When I first knew Paul, we shared the same French class. On the days when we had to play the guessing game, “Who Am I?” in French, Paul was always Paul McCartney. Before the game would start, he would tell me not to play. He never chose another character. I don’t know how the rest of the class never figured this out during the year.

I think it’s Paul’s love for the Beatles that has been the biggest influence in his life. Paul has a love and knowledge for music that is unparalleled by anyone I know. He knows guitars. He plays guitar, but it’s his knowledge of the various makes of guitars and the musicians who play them that is remarkable.

Paul knows his music. I feel very lucky when I can tell him the title of a song we are listening to or even the artist playing it. We like to test each other’s knowledge. When neither one of us is sure of the correct answer, Paul reaches for his iPhone and quickly finds the answer. This has been a game we have played for years, even before the invention of google or the iPhone.

Paul and I are friends through Philip. Paul and Philip have been best friends since public school. I think that we are very fortunate that our families are best buddies – we travel together, celebrate holidays and birthdays, and know that we are always welcome to drop in for a drink and chat. We have our “in” jokes that only the ten of us get. The word “pleasure” will always be associated with Paul and holidays.

Paul is our artiste in residence – an amazingly talented and gifted man. Paul is the teller of bad jokes and the one who is lousy at accents, although he gets A for effort. He’s our entertainer and our expert (with iPhone in hand). Paul is an artist, although it doesn’t help him in the game Cranium. He over thinks what he has to draw – too much detail. He tried Guitar Hero once and failed miserably – pressing four buttons in sync is a lot harder than strumming six or twelve strings on a real guitar.

As I write this, Paul is sitting at his desk doing “lots of work” when he’d rather be doing something else. It’s his birthday, he should be doing something he enjoys doing – like shopping for guitars. Enjoy your day, Paul. I’d type out Happy Birthday to you, but I don’t want to infringe on any copyright laws.

Hugs and best wishes from all of us.