Dad :: 60

We planned an intimate family dinner at a highly respected Mediterranean restaurant in the area. Vivian called ahead, it was SuperBowl Sunday and it was proving to be difficult to find places that were open for dinner that evening. I was the first to arrive to find the “closed” sign staring me in the face. Surely they just hadn’t flipped over their fancy sign for the dinner crowd and as I scanned the facade of the restaurant I saw the hand written note to the left of the door “closing at 3pm today”. It was a simple sentence that I really didn’t want to see. Dad, who always likes to go with the flow and who has done everything to make the four ladies in his life (me, mom, Vivian, and Mocha our pup) make the choices, really wanted to eat there that evening.

So I did what anyone would do at this point – I called Vivian to tell her what was going on. There was silence on the other end, followed by “you’re kidding”. I wish I was. Thanks to my little smartphone I was able to map a new dining location and we were at the neighboring JinBeh, seated and fed within minutes.

True story: 60 candles  look quite daunting and require a large cake. My mother had dad’s favorite Napoleon Cake custom made at a local bakery and she was a little shocked at how little it was so she got a sheet cake to display our candle assortment and test Dad’s lung capacity.

Vivie and Dad. LOVE.