A Solemn End to Childhood Birthday Parties
Teenage grief and E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for the 1982 Universal Pictures film, E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg.
It was the last birthday party in the “kids’ party” tradition that I attended, though the birthday girl was almost grown, turning fifteen. She and I had just finished our freshman year at our high school where we belonged to a close friend group of cast-off’s from the more popular groups. You can read about a club my cast-off friends and I started here:
On that summer afternoon in 1982, my friends and I gathered in the kitchen of Wendy (not her real name), the birthday girl. It was to be a birthday party with elements of a child’s party and a teen party combined.
The teen part was that, after cake and presents, we would all go to our local shopping mall cineplex to see the new movie everyone was talking about. It was E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, poised to be the summer blockbuster of 1982, directed by Steven Spielberg…
