Today is a pretty special day for my family. I’m going to share a few pictures from recent years along with a couple of links to some posts I’ve written in the past and it’s all in honor of my father-in-law, Jack.

Here’s Jack last night, sitting on his porch, relaxing after a day of work. Yes, work.

Three years ago all 5 of his children were together to celebrate Father’s Day with Jack for the first time in many years. They’re a goofy bunch but they get that from him.

He’s a proud father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Five years ago, I wrote this birthday post for Jack.

Six-ish years ago Jack was the Grand Marshal for our town’s Christmas Parade.

He’s always around to lend a helping hand. To check on a vehicle that’s acting up, to offer a ride somewhere to simplify things, to hand you some cash just because.

Ten years ago, we had this party.

And, most important of all, ninety years ago today my father-in-law, Jackie Oscar Julius, entered this world.

I’m grateful every day for him and the family I have because of him. And I feel incredibly blessed to be able to wish him a happy birthday on this epic occasion.

He’s not a computer guy so he doesn’t read my blog but in the past when I have written about him I have printed out the comments for him to read and he has loved it. If you’ve got a moment to spare today to wish this wonderful man a happy 90th birthday I promise you I will make sure those wishes are passed along to the birthday boy.

Along with two of his favorite things: pizza and beer.

Thank you all so very much for the comments wishing me a happy birthday! I read and responded to everyone and it was just awesome to get them throughout the day. Dale was thrilled with the accolades for his blog post, too. I should also say – he really hit the mark about how I feel about turning 50.

And let me tell you, that blog post was just the tip of the iceberg on my fabulous and fun 50th birthday. My morning started with a sweet note from Dale left by the coffee pot, along with a rock he picked up for me with the word “grace” engraved on it. (You may not recall but grace is my One Little Word for 2015.)

When I got to work at the library I found that my office had been decorated to celebrate my birthday. And when I say decorated what I actually mean is that it looked like the Birthday Fairy threw up all over my office.

I absolutely loved it. I laughed out loud and I got a little teary eyed to think about my staff working so hard to make me feel special on my birthday.

I even got Amy, the Assistant Director, to take a picture of me sitting at my desk while wearing my birthday crown.

At the Council on Aging, where I also work, the seniors all wore paper party hats at lunch time and they sang Happy Birthday to me. There was a homemade chocolate cake, too. Yummmmm. And we just won’t talk about the firefighter hat and the joke they were trying to make. Truthfully, working there makes me feel young.

People thought I was crazy for wanting to work on my birthday but I’m here to tell you, the love I got from my colleagues made it all worth it! And the celebrating didn’t end when I left work! Hannah and Dale outdid themselves throwing me that family pizza party.

Hannah decorated the house with balloons and photos of me throughout the years, she made a special birthday pennant and she got bouquets of zinnias. Dale gave up his whole day to get the house ready, to ice soda and beer and wrap gifts and more.

There was a sangria station. With paper straws, of course.

And a delicious cheese platter – Hannah even went to Whole Foods and got me my favorite cheese. Mysteriously, though, that one didn’t make it on to the cheese platter. (Okay, I confess that I hid it in the fridge so that I wouldn’t have to share it.)(I may have also hidden the cookies that my cousin Peggy brought me. Don’t judge me. They are my favorite.)

There was lots and lots of pizza from my favorite pizza place.

I had a fabulous cake made by my friend Caroline of Buttercup’s Bakery.

There were even martini glasses filled with personalized M&Ms that said Carole is 50! on them. (Those were a gift from my awesome coworker Julie.)

I had gifts, including several grown up coloring books, cash (which I will be saving for Vegas), gift cards to my favorite sushi restaurant, jewelry, books and more.

It was a truly wonderful evening with my family. I loved having them here to celebrate with me and it made my birthday complete.

Truthfully, I’m a little verklempt at how loved I felt yesterday. I never wanted a big party but I did want to celebrate somehow and this was just perfect. My 50s are off to a wonderful start but I do predict a tad more celebrating in the days to come. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you informed.

 

Today you will not hear from Carole; she has been replaced for the day by me, Dale, her husband. Why? You ask? Well, I can answer that musically with a lyric from that old classic Earth, Wind and Fire song September.

Do you remember the 21st day of September?

Okay, got it yet? If not here’s another clue: September 21, 1965. Do the math – that was 50 years ago today and we’re giving Carole the day off! (from the blog, at least, since she’s going to work as usual. the nerve of a major birthday like this to fall on a Monday. sheesh.)

Alright, now I’m sure everyone is on board. Today we celebrate Carole as she turns the Big Five-Oh!

When I met Carole she was very young and when we started dating she had just passed over that little speed bump  known as 30. By the time she was 40 we had been married for eight years and now here she is on this new milestone of 50. And a wonderful milestone it is.

Carole and I talked a lot about how she feels about turning 50 while we were driving to a little getaway to the Cape this past weekend and I can assure you she is ready and raring to take her 50s by storm. I will now attempt to sum up our philosophical discussion on birthdays into 5 decades for simplicity.

• 0-10, you’re just little and you have fun!
• 11-20, you become your own person but adults don’t take you seriously . . . although you will hear adults tell you to grow up. A lot.
• 21-30, you grow up, you start making your own decision, some good and some, well, not.
• 31-40, your plans for your life start to take hold, some dreams come to fruition, some dreams change, you raise a family and you work hard
• 41-50, no doubt about it, now you’re an adult. You hit your stride, there’s lots of responsibility but also lots of satisfaction.

And then it happens. at least, according to Carole. You realize that there’s more sand in the bottom of that hourglass than the top and all of a sudden you are free to be the person you want to be. It doesn’t mean you won’t continue to work hard, take on new projects, learn new things and seek out new adventures, it just means you’ll have more fun doing these things because you won’t give a hoot about what people think about what you are doing. You are truly in charge of your own destiny in a way that you haven’t been before. And you come to realize that life is short and there are no guarantees so you’d better enjoy every minute of it doing the things that matter most with the people you love most.

So today we will celebrate this big birthday by looking back a little and looking forward a lot. The family is coming over tonight for a good old-fashioned birthday gathering complete with pizza and cake. (I hear Hannah has some surprises for her mom, too, something about a signature sangria? I think I’ll play it safe and stick to beer.) I’d sure appreciate it if you’d all send Carole a birthday wish because I know she appreciates all of you who read her blog and you are important to her.

I will say, as someone who is a bit, errr, older than Carole, that I do remember the 21st day of September in 1965. I am so glad and grateful that the journey Carole began on that day eventually crossed paths with my own journey because I sure do love her.

I’m going to end this post as it began, with the lyrics from a song:

May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young

Happy Birthday, my darling, and many many more.
Dale