Happy 90th Birthday Dad!

Where do I begin?  It was an absolutely GLORIOUS day from the clear, blue sky with fluffy clouds, to the happy, serendipitous flow of the day.  We used to describe Dad's moods with the weather and today was no exception.  He was free, happy, jovial and full of love.

Mom and I left the house by 7:30 am to attend her iMoms group meeting and luncheon.  Mom volunteers through her church to help mentor and support young Mothers.  The main speaker's topic was "FACING OUR GIANTS". A young Mother gave a speech before the main speaker, entitled "Chasing Away Our Foxes".

Mom and I were the only family members not working, so she and I went to the nursing home for their celebration of Dad's birthday.  The social director had hired a singer who sang Broadway tunes to everyone, but Dad was the guest of honor, sitting up front with her.  Dad LOVED her singing and her performance.  He enjoyed it so much he was inspired to sing along (and loudly) with her.  When he did not know the words, he simply sang, "I love yoooooouuuu, I love yoooooouuuuuu..."  At the end of her program, she sang It Had To Be You to him and presented him with a red rose.

Dad told the singer how much he loved her, 

which generated a huge smile on her face.

Dad  broke into song, he was so happy.

The nursing home provided a huge birthday cake with those number candles, a '9' and an '0' on top.  Dad had to blow each one separately, mainly because they were far apart.  Normally, he is pretty impressive blowing out candles.  One of Dad's buddies came over afterward and gave him a big hug and told him how much he loved him.  It was so touching, I had to quickly grab the moment on my camera.

Dad's friend giving him a big birthday hug.

We wheeled Dad back to his room afterward so he could take a nice nap.  We wanted him to have the best opportunity to be at his best for the part with the family later at 6pm.

Mom and I stopped by Baskin Robbins to pick up Dad's ice cream birthday cake to take home and put in the freezer.  We took the opportunity to rest a wee bit before meeting up with my husband, who had been visiting his daughter.  

We all gathered at one of the activity rooms at the nursing home.  They had brought Dad's birthday banner and his balloons in to decorate the room.  When we all gathered we presented him with his cards and presents and sang to him around his cake.

My daughter had purchased one of those Hallmark Christmas books where everyone can record their voice while reading.  She had asked if I could possibly get her Grandpa to record his voice for her son, Dad's great grandson.  Dad did a great job, reading with tremendous inflection in his voice... definitely a treasure to be cherished...

Me helping Dad recording the first page of

The Night Before Christmas

We all sat around visiting and sharing, laughing and enjoying Dad's milestone birthday.  Our brother from Ohio called and Dad was thrilled to hear his voice!  Dad's friend from the earlier party wandered in on our party, and the staff tried to redirect him to leave... We didn't have the heart to make him leave and invited him to stay and enjoy some cake.

He and Dad were quite the comedy team and entertained all of us with their innocent, friendly banter, which was accentuated comically with both of them being hard of hearing!

Dad was growing tired after was suppose to be an hour party and ended up being two!  One of the nurses came in a took our group picture.  We took his cards and pictures and decorated the wall by his bed and got him all cozy in his new pajamas.  After forming a single line to kiss him good night, we all caravanned back to my brother and sister in law's home for a spaghetti dinner.  We spend the next three hours visiting and sharing funny family stories and catching up.

What a GREAT celebration and fun night!!