Thursday, October 17, 2013

A Special Day!


It certainly was a day to celebrate – my dad’s 90th birthday! 

table at Daddy's party  
He’s a veteran of World War II with a purple heart (that’s him in the middle there),

1943

and as charismatic now as he was back in the day!

Daddy 2

As I’ve mentioned here before, he favors the character Rhett Butler from “Gone with the Wind,” 

And he married Scarlett,

of course,

which happens to be my mom… ;)

scarlet-1

Their lives would make for an epic novel, no doubt about it!

Daddy and Mama at Nanny's house 
Well, all of these aren’t “Rhett,” in character, so to speak, but here’s some pictures of Clark Gable…

gable3

Clark-Gable-facts

Gable,_Clark_01

 

And my dad…

Daddy and Mama deep sea fishing - Copy

Daddy6 


Daddy and pipe 1Daddy in NC




My parents do resemble the actors a bit,

Clark-Gable-and-Vivien-Leigh-in-Gone-With-the-Wind-1939.

but what’s more, they remind us of Rhett and Scarlett!  :D 


He’s an amazing guy, my dad.  

He has a way about him – a classic southern gentleman to be sure.

He exudes charisma & could charm the birds from the trees!

 Daddy 42

Daddy and bird

He never meets a stranger, and with his quick wit, he manages to get a grin out of just about anyone, even if they’re the most dedicated sourpuss.  

He and I share a number of interests like history, collecting old recipes, a love for cameras and preserving memories , a love of nature and God’s creatures… 

Daddy and Pandora

This little puppy’s name was “Pandora” and he is bottle feeding her.

Now my dad doesn’t always think inside the box, “Pandora’s box” I’ll say, when it comes to his pets…

Where typically most people think dogs or cats with pet ownership, he does too, but not quite like you would imagine.

This is his idea of a house cat…

Daddy and oselot

Daddy's oceot 

His “house cat” was an ocelot named “Savage.”  Savage liked girls.  My dad tells me that Savage would crawl up next to them and go to sleep like a kitten.  On the other hand, he didn’t much care for men, but he respected my dad.  My dad did a lot of traveling across the country, and Savage went too.  What a sight it must have been to see Savage sitting up in the back dashboard of my dad’s car!  

Other unusual animals that I remember my dad having are peacocks and a variety of exotic birds in his backyard by the lake, and llamas across from his house, which were really cute!

I love my dad’s zest for life, and there is a lot to be learned by it.  He doesn’t let challenges get the best of him, and his attitude reflects that there is too much to enjoy in life than to focus on the negative.  Optimism is his forte! 

Daddy and I both live 20-25 miles outside of town, in opposite directions.  So we typically meet each other in town for lunch when we can. 

After 3 course lunches, he with his iced tea and then coffee, and I with my iced tea and lots more iced tea, we linger a while.  Then we usually sit in his car and visit some more.  He always has interesting things to show me and tell me about.

lunch with Daddyy 

All that to say, I’m so blessed to be able to celebrate this 90th birthday with him and it is with great joy!  A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s a picture of him on that special day!  

Daddy's 90th birthday

With much love I celebrate my dad, who is so dear to my heart! Signature

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mrs Smith, I so enjoyed your pictures and tales of your father and mother. My - they are such a lovely couple! Happy Birthday to him!

Anonymous said...

Wow! He is 90 years young and dashing and Clark Gable all over and how blessed you are! I love all the animal stories - what an epic childhood you had! Loved this! Thanks so much for your encouraging comment on my new WP platform - I'm moving in some new directions that I've wanted to do for a long time. So joyful to know I can be a blessing in another's life for His glory!
Joy!
Kathy

Little Susie Home Maker said...

You really are so blessed to still have your daddy! He is so handsome and charming! Your sweet momma does look like Vivian! What a beauty! My dad shared your fathers love for animals, too!
Happy birthday to your father and bless you both!
Susie

Red Rose Alley said...

Happy Birhday to your Dad - wow, 90 years old! He was such a handsome man......and still is. He looks great at 90 years old. Your Mom is a beautiful woman too. I just love the old black and white photos. I used to look at my mom's and wondered about the story behind them. There is nothing more beautiful to me than a black and white photo.

I hope he had a special Birthday.

Love,
~Sheri

Lois' Laughlines said...

Reading your post has brought back so many sweet memories of my late father. He would have been 90 years old this year also. So loving and kind he was, thanks for sharing about your dad.
Blessings to you all.

Pam said...

I love this post so much, Mrs. Smith! What a creative, interesting man your dad is! And, wow, he certainly does NOT look 90. How great that you share so many interests with him. Thanks for sharing all of the wonderful pictures too!

Anonymous said...

Wow, he looks fabulous for 90!!! Love hearing this story about your day ~ Mary

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