Party Like You're 84

It's hard to follow up the spectacular day my Dad had last Friday, but Saturday was pretty cool, too.

He celebrated his 85th birthday with four of his five children, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren, and you'll be glad to know we partied like octogenarians. Notice the dried fruit, beta-carotene-rich carrots, and the birthday bierocks that were our lunch.

Never fear, though. We had cake. Oh, did we have cake.

Of course, we were too cheap thrifty to bake a separate cake when the decorative centerpiece of the building dedication hadn't yet been eaten so my  frugal older sister edited the icing. (It gives a whole new meaning to "blue-pencil.")

Then it was time for presents. First opened was a new Nordic hat for his twice-daily heart-healthy walks. The crowd went wild.

"Try it on!"

"Try it on!"

Then the wraps came off to reveal a new holiday sweater. Again the chant went up.

"Try it on!"

"Try it on!"

The third gift came in recognition of Dad's five swimming gold medals from the Senior Olympics. He carefully unfolded the tissue paper and pulled out of the gift bag...a Speedo.

And at that point, the clamor for him to model his presents ceased.

Happy birthday, Dad!