Dad's Birthday

     Today is my Dad's birthday. He would have been 86. Mom would have said, “Oh he would not have liked turning 86!” We would have liked it though, having the Old Man around to show off our kids and grandkids to him and let him know that between our cousins and all our offspring – the Des Soyes have done good – those eight kids, my Dad and his five brothers and two sisters, grew up from such auspicious beginnings to have brought children of their own into this world who are successful and talented and wondrous lights upon the land – they done good!

     We used to tease Dad mercilessly on his birthday. When we got our cats Gomez and Morticia as kittens right after they were weaned – we estimated the date of their birth as eight weeks earlier, which worked out to be July 17^th! Morticia was not around for her first birthday – but Gomez was with us for 10 years – and we jokingly made Dad share his birthday with the cat.

     It was also the birthday of Daryle Lamonica – the quarterback for years for the Oakland Raiders and backup quarterback before that for the Buffalo Bills. One of Dad's famous quotes is about Lamonica (I'm saving it for the 1^st of August) – so Lamonica was a household name in our family, and Dad was a fan. But when we found out they shared the same birthday, I don't think Dad was too thrilled with that.

     On my father's 50^th birthday, I was living in my own apartment in Buffalo – my parents and brothers and a couple of his friends were asked over for a modest celebration. I wanted to make the day special without making Dad feel old. (He wouldn't have liked turning 50!)          On his 60^th birthday, Mom and Dad were living in Florida, and we did not do anything special. My brothers asked about doing something for the 60^th – but we were all so far away and busy with jobs and not much money. We let it slip by thinking the special celebration could be saved for another birthday instead -

     And another birthday never came along.

     So don't let those chances to celebrate slip away!

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