50th Birthday Party
It just didn't seem possible; a half century and I'd made it that far. I remember thinking sometime around my 12th birthday that I would be 50 years old at the end of the millennium. Of course at such a young tender age, it was many lifetimes removed. Looking back, it really wasn't that long ago.
Maybe I was naive but honestly I didn't have a clue that Barb, my wife, would do anything so grandiose for the occasion. The plan was (as far as I knew) to have my brother and sister-in-law come down and the four of us would all go out for a birthday dinner and even a bit of dancing. The most I expected was black balloon bouquet and having to endure wearing a funny hat and servers singing Happy Birthday. Little did I realize...
Part of the plan to distract me included both of my sisters, one from California and one from Florida, to place phone calls to me, even going so far as to have them overlap, wishing me Happy Birthday. Really, I should have known something was out of the ordinary when my brother made it to our house on time. A standing joke amongst the spouses in the family that the Burris genes were "born late".
The four of us drove to the restaurant in my bother's Explorer and let the girls out at the door and we parked the vehicle. Mike and I walked back to the restaurant in the crisp night air. The waitress led us back to a table that was in a separate room. I followed Barb through the door. As I came into the room there was a thunderous SURPRISE! Do you remember the old sitcom entitled "Sanford and Son"? Redd Fox's character, Fred Sanford was always "having the big one" (heart attack) and going to be with his deceased wife. That's what I felt like. There before me was most of my family from both near and far and large group of my friends.
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As you can see by the photo, I had the proverbial "deer in the headlights" look expression on my face. |
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Absolutely over whelmed! There are not enough superlatives to describe my feelings at that moment; I was totally disorientated. I remember seeing my dad and sisters (the ones that I had just spoken to minutes earlier, from what I that were a 1000 and 2400 miles away) and friends smiling.
It may have been ten seconds to regain my composure but at the time it seemed as if lifetimes were passing between heartbeats. Indeed, I am a lucky man to have a wife that went to all the trouble that Barb must have endured to bring this festive event to fruitition. The evening was thrilling seeing my family and friends. The only problem, not enough time to talk to everyone. I wish I’d had days to catch up and savor the moment. I’m including more photos the people in my life.