Happy 75th Birthday Dad!

My Dad is 75 today.

He was born at midnight and the doctor’s gave my grandmother the option for him to be born on 3-9-39 or 3-10-39. She chose 10–she thought that the round number was more auspicious. But my father, who loves numbers, and perhaps this is why–often wonders about that 39 39 paring. So this piece of artwork was created for him with the ideas of numbers in mind.

There are 75 yellow squares, one of his favorite colors. Each square has a word. The words came from various family and friends who responded to this post on Facebook and an email that my mother sent out to all of their friends. As I write this I realize that the word magnanimous never made it onto the collage–maybe I’ll try to squeeze it in somewhere, because really, there’s that one for good luck, right and why not a word like magnanimous.

Along with these seventy-five squares and some other things, my siblings and I gave him $75 to spend at the casino, where he will be celebrating his big day. We were all excited about him putting $75 worth of quarters into the machines, until our mother enlightened us that they don’t have quarter slots anymore. And that my father likes to play the $5 slot machines–not as many chances, but maybe the winnings are bigger? So, if you are reading this, wish my Dad some luck today that he wins big in honor of his big day!

Happy Birthday Dad! Here’s to you and all these words that bring you to mind for me, for our family and our friends. I love you.