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We were supposed to be going down to Sterling Heights for my nephew's second birthday, but suddenly it was a big cluster celebration that included my sister and her husband's birthdays, which were on Feb. 13th, as well as mine.

In my family, something as strange as a "fake" birthday is no surprise for me. Actually, I would expect nothing less from them.

I mean I've got so many "fake" relatives (an "Uncle" Dale who is my sister's godfather and not an actual relative, an "Auntie Pearl" who was my grandma's best friend but no one's aunt, an "Aunt Lillian" who is actually my second cousin and cousins who are actually just my godfather's sons) that the thought of a "fake" party actually seems pretty normal to me.

Family peculiarities aside, this "faux" event made me think back to some of my other birthdays and how they have changed so much over the years.

When I was 16, I couldn't wait to go get my driver's license although my mom was terrified to let me drive home. It was probably because I didn't practice too much with my learner's permit, because I must have thought I already knew what I was doing...or maybe, just maybe, I was a little terrified, too.

I mean aside from a couple of drives in the cemetery and a week of formal instruction, my driving experience was limited to a training session or two from my grandpa on the back roads of the U.P. And let's just put it this way, his hands seemed as big as my head (you get fit a quarter through his wedding ring) and he waved those paws at me every time I made a mistake.

So although I always claimed I put off my first solo drive, because my mom wouldn't let me have the car, it was actually because I was just as nervous to go on my own as she was me for to take the car.

And a few mishaps in high school, including crashing into the side of my garage door, smashing the front of my car into a light post and one other "minor" fender bender, proved that maybe my mom was right to make me wait and maybe she should have made me wait a bit longer.

When I was 18, I went out the night before my birthday with my buddies. Looking back, I wondered why I didn't just go out with my friend Matt who was a year older and hang out at some cool club I could finally get into like Industry in Pontiac.

But we let Rob and Steve (who were both a year younger than me) come out too, so instead of partying at a club we went to a coffee house (think Starbucks before there really were any Starbucks around) and on the way I stopped to by a lottery ticket (scratch off). I'd bought them before with no hassle (even though I wasn't old enough), but this time the clerk checked my ID. Even though I was hours away from being legal to buy it, he told me to come back after midnight.

There were a couple of other activities along the way; I know at some point we stopped at Blockbuster to rent some movies, but most of them were weird films my friends liked because they thought they were big "movie buffs."

That's right, my wife Jill isn't the only one I can poke fun at in this column. LOL

So as the night wound down, it was around one in the morning and we stopped at a Dawn Donut's in Warren.

Despite a sign that said the place was open 24 hours a day, we were refused service as the waitress claimed they were closed and then when pressed, said we had to leave because they were out of donuts. Strangely, the donut racks looked full to me and a law enforcement official was sitting at the counter with a crueler and a coffee, so I knew we were getting shafted.

Dejected, we went to Coney Island, the same one we went to one morning after going to a "rave" in Canada and getting back too soon to come home from our "fake" sleepover. After eating, we went to my house, watched some movies and crashed.

My 21st birthday was also a fun time. For some reason that day, everyone went out of their way to make sure I wasn't thirsty. Even complete strangers...how nice of them.

But I guess after the milestone birthdays, things start to go a little down hill from there. I know the night I turned 30, I spent my special day putting together my sports pages (Monday is our production day) and covering an Ubly school board meeting.

Last year's birthday was pretty tame, but at the same time pretty cool. My wife and I went out to eat, went to see a movie in Sandusky and then we got some desert afterwards, a delicious sundae with whip cream and all the other good stuff on top.

I guess as time goes on, we begin to slow down, appreciate the little things and settle for the simpler, more typical birthdays. Wait! Forget that, I'm taking the day of my birthday off from work and taking my wife to Vegas...or at least I could wish for an all-expense paid trip when I blow out the candles...that would still be pretty fun.