Birthdays are special.

When the Old Man reaches another birthday it’s always the “whatever you want”

approach.

This time was no different. This year we went to lunch. I chose lunch because I knew that he would want to go right to sleep after walking and eating.  

A couple of days before his birthday I asked what meal he would like.  He replied “ox tails”.  I thought of the options to sit down and eat ox tails in my town and I could only think of a few.  

I called The Palace International Restaurant on Broad Street in Durham, NC and they were able to comply with my request to serve oxtails for lunch. Now that the easy part was out of the way, I said “you will have your ox tails” . He was overjoyed.  

Found some mini loaf cakes at The Kupcake Fairy on Chapel Hill Road in Morrisville so he could have a little birthday cake too. 

One thing that I have realized about watching my Dad age is that simple things are the key to happiness. All he wanted for his birthday was to eat oxtails have a double rum and coke, get out of the house and laugh a little. That is exactly what we did. 

Let setup part of the day for you. I called him in the morning so that he would know what time I was coming to pick him up, this was how the convo went: 

Old Man:Today I am wearing a tshirt and shorts.

Me: Ok, if that is what we are doing I will wear something similar. 

Old Man: Yep, it is all about comfort, today is my day. 

Me: U are right. See you in a little while. 

I  pick him up and he is ready.  We have a birthday song walk jam session on the way to the car. We sing along to Old school jams on the ride. Drive through 2 mini downpours and make it to the restaurant right on time. 

Some friends and family arrive and we laugh and talk. Order some great meals and talk some more. 

Surprisingly he ate his entire plate of food and even started eating the cake .That was a great sight to see! 

We ride back to his house drive back through some rainstorms and get him home during some light drizzle. 

The best part of the day was taking him home and him saying, 

“I had a great day, it was off the hook!”  

Now we are on the road to 72. Look out now.

(If this is your first time reading then I should let you know, “Old Man” is an affectionate term for my Dad. Just in case you were wondering)