by Monica, Rose Valley, PA

It was my 16th birthday (1991), and my older sister and her friends brought me to a small, Italian restaurant in Philly. In walk Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian! I turned bright red and we all couldn’t believe it…no one else in the restaurant recognized them. My sister and her friends asked the waiter to send over a round of drinks on us and tell them, “Thanks for the music” (the waiter also had no idea who they were).

Well, the waiter must not have relayed the message very well because he came back and told us “They don’t know you.” We said, “They’re not supposed to know us!” It got a little embarrassing, so my friend’s sister went over to their table, apologized, and said we didn’t mean to interrupt them, just wanted to say thanks and buy them some drinks. He must have slipped in that it was my birthday, too, because a couple of minutes later they came over to thank us, and Rob and Eric sang Happy Birthday to me right there in the restaurant!! Then they gave us tickets to go see Annie Haslam and Procol Harum at the Tower that night. We arrived there, and Rob and Eric were there in the lobby and we chatted with them for a few minutes like they were old friends.

It was definitely my most memorable birthday and a night none of us will ever forget!