Dad's *80th*

My dad turned 80 on May 1st this past week.
We had a birthday party for him which has surpassed all wedding lists in our family thus far! Needless to say, it was the party of parties.
I began to think about all the people who were family and friends who did not make it in...some from being taken from him with cancer. Like his best of best friend Lenny Gabinski.
This man came over to see my dad every morning for over 35yrs. Mr. Gabinski had terminal cancer, yet he kept on going and going..denying all the Dr's calls for death.
When Mr. Gabinski died, it about killed my da.
He was one who was truely missed.
One of many...like the friends of the family from way back when....times of drinking root beer floats out of colorful aluminan tumblers, cooking burgers and hot dogs on the grill, while potato salad baked in the sun.
All of them are gone.
My da came to this country with his cousin back in 1950 from Ireland.
He was a hard worker, and kept a home for 8 kids.
So many kids that 'we' kids grew up with , showed up for da's birthday with their children and their children. AMAZING
My dad is not perfect in any way...yet he always made you think you can do it.
His way of raising kids was along the line of "if you expect nothing, you will get nothing". Which nowadays would be considered harsh, but I raised my kids the same way.
My da is very popular in the Irish Community in the Chicago area. He helped many a new struggling Irish performing artist and prospective business owners back in the day.
With 8 kids, and all their friends, my da has always had an open door policy..which all of the now grown kids have now in their homes..another amazing thing if you were to think about it.
I don't get to see my da as often as I like, yet when I do, he is still my da.
Sometimes I wonder what my life will be like when he is gone to be with his Maker... He has lived life to the fullest in my opinion...and still on top of things in this day and age.
When it was time to stand up and acknowledge my da at the party, I was very proud to be his daughter, to be the 1st to give him a grandchild and in time his 1st great grandchild.
With 8 kids, it would be a tough task to love each one of us in his and our own way. We are all different in so many ways, yet we are all the same, his children.
He has done a lot in his adopted country and town. Of all things, I hope to get something in his town of Bloomingdale to acknowledge his hardwork and love for his community.