Seventy Things

At my birthday party the family presented me with a framed poster with the following sentiments:


Seventy Things We Love About You:  

The smartest person we know - Kelly - The best pops! - Kelly - You are funny - Kelly - Took me out on Fridays - Jenna - One time he ate a tomato and it squirted out all over his shirt - Jenna - He gives the best advice, both serious and funny - Tara - He's my best friend - Gracen - His New Year's resolution is always that he's not going to eat hot dogs any longer because the one's he's eating now are long enough - Kelly - He gives good books to read - Jenna - Is a bookworm - Hunter - Makes the best pico - Tara - Laughs at us grand kids even though no one else approves of our behavior - Tara - Taught us to love books and reading - Rachel - Took us to museums - Rachel - Letting me walk to school by myself in Kindergarten but following me the whole way, hiding behind trees so I wouldn't know. - Rachel - Time spent teaching me to ride my bike, holding on to the back and secretly letting go when you knew I was ready so that I would have the confidence to ride on my own. - Rachel - Coming home every evening after a hard day at work and a long commute and still find the energy to play with us - Rachel - Reading the funny papers before dinner - Rachel - Buying me a horse and the two of us learning about horses together - Rachel - Having the patience to teach me how to drive a stick shift and not getting mad when I drove the truck through the fence. - Rachel -  Always making us your first priority - Rachel - Being the finest man I have ever known - Rachel - Patiently playing your guitar while waiting for the three girls in your life to get ready to go somewhere - Rachel - Keeping me updated on all the sayings and doings of G - Rachel - Making my slumber parties the best with.your hand writing analysis and horoscopes - Rachel - Takes us on great vacations with lots of special surprises - Kelly - Knows each one of us and likes to give gifts specifically for that person - Kelly - Tells corny jokes that make him laugh - Sami - Always has crumbs on his shirt making a good snack for Jenna - Sami - His love and support for us all is unconditional - Sami - He never  tells us no. Instead he says "Ask Grandma". - Sami - Giving us a loving, happy home - Rachel - Giving all of us stability - Rachel - Giving me so many happy childhood memories - Rachel - Making sure I always felt loved - Rachel - Exposing us to all kinds of music - Rachel - The trip to North Carolina - Rachel - Bringing home the homeless man man from the bus stop to have dinner with our family and showing us how to be kind to others through example - Rachel - Taking us to church to have a foundation to live by. - Rachel - Being a guiding force in my girls lives - Rachel - Letting us ride in the back of the old yellow truck to Westville to get a Whatchamacallit! - Kelly -

(continued)

Going to town on Sunday mornings for donuts and a comic book - Kelly - Lunch dates after pre-school - Marley, Hunter, and Jenna - He can grow just about anything - Kelly - Letting us shoot guns at the creek - Burk - Driving to California and listening to Footloose! all the way. Threatening to throw black jelly beans at hitchhikers on the same trip - Kelly - Help with homework -Marley - He didn't freak out when I drove his truck into the fence - Marley - Introducing us to old movies like Laurel and Hardy, Old Batman, Frankenstein, and King Kong - Marley, Hunter, and Jenna - Plans the best vacations and puts up with our arguing on the trip - Marley - Letting us sit beside him in the truck and shift the gears - Marley - Using the top of the carved pumpkin to sing "I'd tip my hat to you but I don't have a hat" - Kelly - Decorates the prize winning egg at Easter - Kelly - He taught us to find local restaurants while traveling. No eating at chains - Kelly - Always  being my hero - Rachel - All the times you played the guitar and we sang. I think I was an adult when I learned that someone other than my Dad sang "The Train They Call the City of New Orleans", "Clayton Delaney", and "Bobbie McGee" - Rachel - Being the most sought after team member for Trivial Pursuit - Rachel - My first memory was seeing him drive up the street in his '57 Plymouth - Dorothy - I always knew what time he would be home after work - Dorothy - One time he brought a hobo home to eat supper with us. Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. Gave him some clothes and shoes. Bought him a bus ticket and wished him well. - Dorothy - Because the first thing you did when you came home from work was to give Mom a kiss - Rachel - Shows us what a good marriage looks like by loving Mom so well - Kelly - Makes the best chocolate syrup for ice cream - Kelly - Cuz' I just love him - Gracen - He never ceases to amaze me with his talents.  He is an artist, carpenter, electrician, and more than willing to help me with my projects - Mom - His sense of humor - Mom - Loves his family unconditionally - Mom - I love to hear him sing and play guitar - Mom - The way he always has time and patience for the grand kids - Mom.

Seventy

I turned 70 last week and on Saturday my daughters threw me a party. Friends and family helped me to celebrate my transition into old codgerhood.

My five grand kids and great grand child. LtoR Marley, Hunter,

Jenna, Gracen, Samantha, Tara.

I included all these photos of the same scene to illustrate how 

difficult it is for Gracen to contain herself around a birthday cake.

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My sisters Kay and Rita

Dennis, Rick, and I

Kelly, Rachel, and their cousin Amy

To be mature you have to realize what you value most. It is extraordinary to discover that comparatively few people reach this level of maturity. They seem never to have paused to consider what has value for them. They spend great effort and sometimes make great sacrifices for values that, fundamentally, meet no real needs of their own. Perhaps they have imbibed the values of their particular profession or job, of their community or their neighbors, of their parents or family. Not to arrive at a clear understanding of one’s own values is a tragic waste. You have missed the whole point of what life is for.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Quote of the Day

There’s the ideal beauty of youth and health, which never really changes, and is always true. There’s the ideal beauty of movie stars and advertising models, the beauty-game ideal, which changes its rules all the time and from place to place, and is never entirely true. And there’s an ideal beauty that is harder to define or understand, because it occurs not just in the body but where the body and the spirit meet and define each other.

Ursual K. Le Guin

Marley's First Car

It seems like yesterday that the family walked Marley to her first day of school and now she is the proud owner of her first car.,

Gracen's First Day of Pre-K

Today was G's first day of Pre-K school.  As is our custom she had a large entourage.

G's teacher gives her the grand tour.

The rules are explained. I thought to myself  "Good luck on that one."

The best part is that G and her best friend Farrah are in the same class.