60th birthday surprise

the big man turns 60

this weekend was a pretty big deal.  on friday, october 5th, my dad turned 60 years old.  60 years!!!  he was born in 1952.  he lived through the loss of his mom, dad, sister, in-laws, cousins, friends.  he lived through the crazy 60's and 70's, the weird 80's, the slightly less weird 90's, and then the new century of the 2000's.  he has witnessed the birth of 2 girls, and raised 3, has 3 grandchildren, given away all three girls to their husbands.  the list goes on.

so, to document the birth date of a man that has such a profound impact on SO.MANY.LIVES., my mom, sister Bry and I wanted to do something special for him.

so back at the beginning of 2012, when we started throwing ideas together for his birthday, i had read about the pinterest idea of "60 years of memories" where a girl got 60 memories together for her dad's birthday, from family, friends, coworkers, etc, and compiled them for a book for her dad.  we decided to do the same thing for my dad, so the emails, facebook messages, and phone calls started.  every day my mom and sister and i would email each other a number in the subject line. " 7!!! WE HAVE 7!!!!"  or "OMG WE ARE UP TO 15!!! 45 MORE TO GO!!!" on and on until we finally hit 60. 

after the book was underway, we decided that just the book wasnt enough of a surprise for him, so we also threw together a little surprise bday luncheon/BBQ/party on saturday, oct 6.  the plan was for me to call him on thursday and tell him that something suddenly came up for friday night dinner, can he meet us for lunch saturday instead?  so that's what we did, and i could tell he seemed a little bummed that i pushed back his bday dinner to saturday (only because that meant he couldnt go to the deer lease). 

on saturday, a hoarde of family and friends arrived at cypress saloon and we blew up balloons, decorated, put out pictures of dad, and got ready for his arrival with my mom.  finally they got there, and i got them to come back to the hall by telling them oliver went back there for a quick beer.  so we walked in and SURPRISE!!!  my dad was shocked!  he was really excited, and turned to me and said dang you kiddo! 

ha.

then after everyone dug into the BBQ plates we served, cacey and oliver set up the slide show that cacey and my mom had put together.  it started as dad as a kid to the song jeremiah was a bull frog, then went into him with his friends to sharp dressed man, then went into his and my mom's dating life and marriage to mama he's crazy, and then finished with dad being a dad to deeper than the holler (also the song we danced to at the wedding). 

he was very touched and had some tears during the slide show.  (not going to lie, i did too.)  and then after that, we surprised him with the book.  he later told my mom that it was like attending your own funeral--where everyone tells you how much they love you, but not a lot of people ever get to see that in their life.  he loved it so much.  it was so great to be a part of surprising the big man and getting him to see HOW MANY PEOPLE love him soooooo much. 

thanks to everyone who sent a memory, came to the party, or has been a part of my dad's life over the last 60 years.  if you know him, you know he will give anyone the shirt off his back, he is a hard worker, a kind person, welcomes anyone and everyone to his home, fiercely loyal to his family, and puts others first NO MATTER WHAT.  if you don't know him, i hope one day you get to.  he's a pretty awesome dude. and the best dad i've ever known.


love you dad, happy 60th!

Photo by GMA Photography