Fun Isn't The Word For It

Spring

A Lifetime of Moments

Y'know I love birthdays. Birthdays of all shapes and sizes. 6th, 23rd, 48th, 2nd... whatever the case may be. I love them. I especially love big ones like the 21st, 30th, 50th or in this case the (drum roll) 60th!!! Which is what my Dad celebrated this past week.

My family and I really wanted to make this birthday special for him. And plans for this started back in January. We came up with a great idea for his gift this year (Thanks to Pinterest...). And with a lot of help from our family and our friends, we were able to pull it off. We mailed letters out - lots of them - and asked those closest to Dad over the years to send in wishes, memories & happy thoughts so that we could combine them and give Dad 60 for his birthday. We got 90. We combined them all into one book for him to pour over and look through. There are no words to describe his reaction because really - there.were.no.words. He was speechless...

It took him a minute to figure it out...

But once he did, he couldn't believe what he was reading...

He's been going through all of them for days and days. Some choke him up...

But mostly, he looks like this...

Sista made Dad a "Wall of His Own Happy". Pictures from his life that capture those moments - the ones you really wanna hold on to...

And we had one helluva Oyster Roast with friends and family and people who traveled from near (Charlotte) and very far (Iran). His cake was perfect...

And so is the memory of all of us sending 60 floating lanterns up into the sky...

This was one of those moments that will go on my own Wall of Happy. It was one of those that I really wanna hold on to.

His life is a very large, very bright quilt that is made of many different threads of people. Those people came together and gave him a great gift this weekend - a book that bursts of love and laughter and a lifetime of moments.

What Was To Come

I've mentioned before the great love I have for My Sista. She's the greatest. Just a real peach. She found this picture the other day and it's from when our family gathered (about 25 years ago) to christen my Grandfather's boat which just so happened to be a Harker's Island replica which he just so happened to build with his own 2 hands. Anyways, here's the picture.

We were really setting the stage for what was to come.

I'm Pretty Sure

Yesterday Big was studying for his Social Studies quiz. If you live in SC and you're in 3rd grade, you have to learn about SC history. Chapter 8, Lesson 2 & 3 are all about the first shots of the Civil War. As soon as Big started reading out loud to me, I said "Close your book. Get your shoes and put your tooshey in the car." He looked at me like I had lost my mind but did as he was told.

We drove around the corner to the very, very end of the Island that looks out over the Harbor. You can see all of our little sweet spot on the Earth from that point. From the big diamond bridges all the way to Morris Island lighthouse. In the middle of your view, there she sits... Ft. Sumter.

please forgive the blurry nature of this photo. i am new to the world of iphones.

At first he didn't believe me that we were actually standing from the spot of where the first shots were fired. So I showed him the proof at hand which just so happens to be this...

So I won that one.

We sat there yesterday on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. We looked out over the water and read Chapter 8 Lesson 2 and 3 and learned about how back in those days our Country was divided and at war and how Big and Lil' probably wouldn't have ever come to be as their Daddy was born a Yankee and myself a Confederate. We talked about how slaves and the war are all a part of our family's history and how much suffering both sides endured. We learned about the savviness of Abraham Lincoln and how he set up the blockade which tortured the South and kept those 11 states from taking to or getting anything from Europe and how this strategy eventually strangled all hope that the South could win what we call down here, "The War of Northern Aggression".

I want our children to know where they have come from. I want them to know what it took to get them here. How many people sacrificed, worked and struggled so that their Yankee Daddy and Southern Mama could come together. I want them to know about the great South, the Civil War, and how their Great-Grandparents came all the way from Italy to Ellis Island. You don't know who you are until you know where you came from.

Yesterday was a memory maker; of that I'm pretty sure.



You've Never Looked Better

Edistizer

A little Edistizer this weekend.....