Dad's 50th Birthday

I just realized that I completely forgot to post the promised pictures of my Dad's 50th birthday and the "letter surprise" we did for him. I'm so sorry if you've been waiting for it! Here it is.

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I sent out a letter far and wide asking friends to write and send us a short letter describing a particularly vivid or favorite memory of Dad. Hannah and I (Hannah being my hands where mine couldn't be) put each memory in a separate envelope and presented them to him at his birthday party. The hope was to have 50 memories, and therefore 50 envelopes, because it was his 50th birthday, but I don't think we quite made it. I think the final number was closer to 35. Oh well.

I was able to attend the party via Skype so I can tell you I witnessed first-hand the awe and teary eyes he experienced when he realized what this stack of letters contained!

That's me, in my own little corner, on my own little chair, watching them eat the sumptuous feast laid before them by my mother, otherwise known as Kitchen Goddess.

I'm disappointed to say that we didn't get that many pictures of the actual letter opening (perhaps because it took nigh unto forever).

But there were sober moments:

 And moments filled with mirth as he remembered the incident and expounded on it for our benefit:

 Notice the stack of letters behind Sarah's hand to the left of the picture -- I ordered the envelopes online. I thought they added a neat touch because they have the red and blue airmail stripes on the edges.

I was told that a couple of weeks later, memories were still trickling in from people that hadn't gotten around to it earlier. I was also told (by Dad) that it was the best birthday he's ever had, and that all the letters were incredibly touching.

For those of you that participated, THANK YOU for helping make Dad's 50th birthday so special. I wish you could have all been there to witness it.