My Dad is Celebrating His 80th Birthday Today!

My Dad On The Boat!

Wow! Today is my Dad's 80th birthday and we're all very excited. His favorite meal is Corned Beef and Cabbage & it is cranking in the crock pot for dinner tonight as I type! We have ice cream and one cupcake with candles since he would rather have ice cream then cake. The end of the school year is crazy with both teens having exams, in addition to working, the hubby is taking 'mid-term exams' with his summer session and I am helping my co-teacher wrap up the year, move her to a 4th grade portable while I get my portable ready for 3rd grade Summer Reading Camp! My 16 y/o even gets done with school at noon today & will be busy packing and moving stuff in my portable. But tonight, tonight we will all stop to come together and celebrate my Dad's 80th BIRTHDAY!
My Dad came to America from Scotland for a better life. As a kid during World War II he watched movies of a glamorous, far away country where the sun always shined, there was no rain, no one was hungry & everyone seemed to have a job. He came first to Canada & got as south as Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where I was born 3 years later!
My Dad lives with us, he is a cancer survivor & battles Parkinson's Disease everyday. He use to run marathons, now he's happy taking laps inside Publix in a motorized wheelchair while we shop. He is always happy no matter what, as long as he has the Internet, cable on his 72' TV, a Florida Lotto ticket and ice cream for dessert! A family joke we have is when I come home I ask, "What's shaking Dad?" He says, "Not much, just my hands!" It is a sad disease, but the humor helps!
I reflect back now and realize I probably became a teacher because of my parents. My Dad had very little education because of the War, but he would read Shakespear for FUN! Seriously! He was so excited when I finally got to McBeth and Romeo & Juliet in high school. I know he was bummed when I took the Cliff Note way out because I hated them so much! Still, without them having the benefit of an American education, our house was all about reading, math, learning, etc. My dad read to me every night, then when I was too "cool" to be read to, he read his book in my doorway at night while I read Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, everything we checked out weekly from the library, I devoured nightly. I wouldn't be that way without my Dad reading to me and taking me to the library. Our home was full of books, I just thought every kid lived like this....little did I know how lucky I was! We ate out a lot because my parents didn't have the luxury of that as children in the War. As we waited for our meals, my Dad taught me Tic-Tac-Toe, Dots, Block Lettering, problem solving games, anything to kill the time and make me smarter. He use to draw Snoopy everywhere for me, placemats, napkins, the hard sand of the Florida beaches, even for my classroom when I first started teaching!! I loved Snoopy!
I know my children are smart, the curse of a Teacher's Child, but I also hope my children have enjoyed their childhood as much as I enjoyed mine. I hope my students enjoy what I've taught them as much as I've enjoyed what my Dad has taught me!

I am blessed because someone read to me!