Kev’s Birthday Traditions
As we get closer to what would have been Kev’s 35th birthday, I can’t help but think back to all the amazing birthdays I got to celebrate with him over the years. The first birthday was his 3rd, in 1993, and the last was his 31st in 2021, and I was lucky enough to celebrate so many more in between.
As we were cleaning out our childhood home we found one of Kev’s journals, and within it were many hilarious entries of the day-to-day encounters of a 10-year old living in Weston, FL with his “cool, athletic, older brother” and his tagalong little sister. He wrote about the summer of 2000, sleeping in and watching movies, running errands with our Mom, going to the dentist, bowling with his siblings, and being bored in the car (we were in the car a lot). We also discovered his plans for his 11th “X-treme” Birthday Party. There were many games involved like a watermelon eating contest and “Say What Karaoke” with detailed instructions on how to play, a guest list of equal parts boys and girls, and of course a break for lunch to eat Little Caesars Pizza. As Kev became a young adult, the parties dwindled, but we always had a celebration at home with our grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins accompanied by homemade cards and signs, balloons, and a Chocolate Cake (99% of the time from Publix, other than the year Kev and our grandma, Ma decided to make a cake from scratch… that did not become a tradition). Birthdays were always special, always celebrated, and always began and ended with singing happy birthday with my mom’s additional lyrics of “and many moreeee, forever and ever and ever and ever, may all your dreams come trueeee.”
As we got older, Kev’s elaborate parties and his excitement to make a list and invite his friends out for an excuse to celebrate came back in a different form.
Kev celebrated his 21st birthday at midnight at the University of Maryland following a UMD v University of Miami football game that my whole family came to town for. After the game we went back to my dorm where Kev ceremoniously gave Richie his ID back that got him into countless bars in NYC - most notably the Patriot. He likely had a big party back at NYU that following weekend that Kyle, Paige, and BK can share more on.
Although I wasn’t there for it, most people know the legend of Kev’s 24th birthday spent in San Francisco, where he lived for a few years post college. Kevin decided to do the 24-24-24 challenge, where he ran 24 miles and drank 24 beers in 24 hours. Insane to the common person, but an exhilarating challenge Kevin couldn’t wait to conquer for a seemingly “non milestone” year. If I remember correctly, he began the night before his birthday and ran 14 miles followed by a night out of drinking (5% beer minimum). Let’s say he drank 10 beers that night. The next day, he ran the remaining 10 miles and sweat out the beers from the night before so he could make room for the remaining on his actual birthday. He ended the day in Golden Gate Park with friends, having completed the challenge with time to spare.
Kev’s 25th birthday was spent over Labor Day weekend in the Poconos with an epic crew of friends welcoming him back to NYC after his two years in SF. This was the same time I moved to the city post college and Kev and I were finally living in the same city again.
Kev’s last year in his 20s he decided to throw a birthday dinner at Emmy Squared, an awesome pizza spot in Brooklyn. The gathering was “intimate” for Kevin standards and included some out- of-town guests like our older brother Richie and cousin Whit. Dinner was followed by a classic BK night including bar hopping to Extra Fancy and Rocka Rolla. The next day we met up at Brooklyn Bridge park to play beach volleyball and then hung back at Kev's apartment with Mariah Carey on repeat and a Milk Bar cake to celebrate. This was the last birthday Kev spent in NYC.
The Big 3-0 was celebrated in Denver during Kev’s first stint at crashing with Mac and me during Covid. As we were nearing the end of 2020, life started to resume outdoors in Colorado and so a plan was made to mark this milestone birthday. Kyle and Evvie traveled in from NY to join in on the brewery/bar crawl through the RiNo neighborhood. We set out to go to 10 spots and little did Kev know, I began documenting our stops on Instragram throughout the day, which unknowingly put pressure on us to complete the challenge. Masks and all, we hopped from one bar to the next, met up with friends along the way, and finally ended back at casa Macnilla, which became the 10th “bar” for the night; drinking from our “1990 Vintage” koozies and wearing party hats.
And then came Sweet 31…A weekend spent in Denver with our entire family. My parents and Richie and Sof flew in to celebrate Kev’s birthday. The boys golfed, we all went to a Rockies game, the fam got to meet Kev’s girlfriend, Sri, for the first time, we hiked in Evergreen, spent an afternoon in Boulder, feasted on an elaborate brunch at home, and ended the weekend with Blueplan pizza. How lucky were we to have spent that time together. The last birthday we’d get with Kev.
Every year we continue to celebrate as Kev would. Surrounded by family, telling stories, reminiscing, drinking a beer and eating pizza. Every birthday is a blessing and getting older is not something any of us take for granted. As much as we know this, birthdays are hard. Kev’s birthday, my birthday, all our birthdays are difficult because as much as Kev loved to celebrate his, he loved celebrating ours just the same.
So for Kev’s 35th, the 35-35-35 only felt right. For his 35th birthday on September 6th, 2025, we will all be gathered in Brooklyn, NY celebrating his amazing life - with pizza and beer of course. As I’m sure Kev would have done himself, we’ve also given ourselves a challenge - to raise $35,000 for GOTR NYC. Just $35 covers the cost of a pair of running shoes for a girl in the program. Let’s celebrate his life in a way he would have loved: surrounded by laughter, connection, and purpose.
Happy birthday brother, we love you endlessly.
<3