The Greats

This week, my Papaw will turn 85.  Yesterday, he was told my Aunt Donna was bringing some pizza out for lunch.  She did, & with her came 14 other relatives, including his great grandson Will, whom he'd never met, a yellow cake with chocolate icing, and one British lab named Thomas Jefferson (we take the presidents seriously in our family . . . well, the good ones).

The plan was to meet at noon and then all drive to Papaw's at the same time.  I believe the phrase "rendezvous at noon" was used, but I won't say by whom.  I will say that the individual who used this phrase was not at the rendezvous point at noon.

Waiting . . . 

 . . . and waiting . . . 

Once all 7 cars made it to Papaw's, the party was in full swing.  When Will arrived, Papaw cried, & we all did a little too.

Undaunted by the attention their new cousin was receiving, the girls got down to business:

They took some time out to chat with Thomas Jefferson:

We sang 'Happy Birthday' and had cake:

Papaw modeled his birthday gifts:

We visited:

I spent some one on one time with Will:

And everyone fell asleep:

Papaw has seen a lot with his 85 year old eyes: the Great Depression, the beginning & end of WWII, man walking on the moon, and the birth of five children, ten grandchildren, and five great grandchildren, the youngest of whom he was able to finally lay eyes on yesterday.  Thoreau once said, None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.  Papaw continues to find things to be enthused about, musing yesterday that he would turn some heads at the council (the Council on Aging, where he often eats lunch) when he walked in wearing his new bright yellow LSU shirt he got for his birthday.  He looks good for 85; he has a head of hair many men in their 40s would envy & skinny legs I envy, but they get him where he needs to go.  We all had a wonderful day.  You're never too old for surprises or tears or yellow birthday cake with chocolate icing.

AZ