Happy 80th Birthday to my Dad!!

My Dad

On this day, 80 years ago, my Dad was born in the little town of Mansfield, Arkansas. He was my Grandparents second child and first son. My Grandmother (bless her soul) was just certain that she was having a girl and had the name Alice Jean picked out for her. Well, what a surprise when she came out a he. Rather than try to come up with a name for him, she just took the initials from the girls name, A J, and that was what he was named. That served him fine until he joined the Navy and they informed him that he would have to have a name to go with those initials. So, he thought Alfred John fit nicely, and that has been his name ever since. I have always found that to be the most interesting story and I've always told him that I thought he did a great job naming himself. Alfred John has such a nice "ring" to it! For most of his life he's just been called "Bro. Al" and that fits him well too.


We celebrated Dad's 80th birthday this past Saturday evening with a family dinner. I have always enjoyed getting ready for a dinner such as this and I was right proud of myself and the way my tablescape came together. Certainly nothing difficult, but I thought it looked very festive and added a nice touch to our dinner table. I must admit that I got the idea out of Southern Living a couple of years ago and embellished it just a little with my own ideas.


Daddy has always enjoyed a good time and he got right into the "spirit" of celebrating Saturday evening. As you can see from the photo above that he is quite the sport and was enjoying every minute of his celebration.


My youngest brother flew in from Des Moines for the occasion and that made it all the more special. We had our son and his family, Dad's "soon to be wife" and her daughter and son in law present too. It was a fun night of celebrating a very special man. Dad has always taken the best of care of himself and wants to live a long life and wants to live it in the healthiest manner than he can. Thus he has tried to do the things that will hopefully not only allow him to live a long life , but to live a full life as long as the Lord gives him breath.

What a special man and I love him dearly!