My dad (papa) is 70! Tuesday was his 70th birthday! It doesn’t seem possible, nor does it seem possible that I am 40! My days have always gone by quick and the months and years even quicker! In some respects a lot has happened since the days I was a teenager and my dad was in his 40’s. At the same time, those days still remain vivid memories. His hair, what is left anyway, is all gray and thin. Yet in my head, my dad still has a full head of black hair. My perspective may not be reality; however, it is my reality.
My dad is not a huge partier and originally didn’t want to do anything special for his 70th other than a simple dinner with family. However, I think he realized that not only do you turn 70 only once, but that turning 70 is a gift…a gift worth celebrating! He became excited about the prospect of a celebration and so we decided on dinner at The Palm. It was supposed to be him, my mom, Justin, myself, the girls, Russell and Mary, and Mike and Susan. A few weeks ago, we realized that dinner was not going to happen. We are in midst of a pandemic….schools closed, restaurants closed, workers teleworking, the world social isolating and quarantining. Even as I type it, this situation seems unreal.
Hugging and kissing are out of the question as is entering my parents house and vice versa. Sunday we paid a driveway visit to my parents as a way to say hello from afar. We also dropped off my dad’s present giving it a few days to sit and rid itself of any potential germs.
While I am sure my dad was disappointed that we couldn’t celebrate as we originally planned or truly even together, I still wanted to make the day special. And I think we did. For surely, it was a unique birthday and one in which I am sure he will never forget!
We started the day with some birthday videos and a FaceTime call. I ordered crab cakes over the weekend from G&M along with some She-crab soup. Late afternoon, I made mashed potatoes and garlic green beans and a delicious healthy coconut cake with lemon buttercream. I cut it in half and we kept half! 
We piled in the van at 5:30 and headed to their house. We stood at one end of the driveway and them the other.
He opened his presents which included some homemade crafts from the girls and a “vintage 1950’s t-shirt.
He enjoyed the poster that I put together over the weekend that documented his life in pictures from the time he was a little boy!
We “shared” a bottle of wine by bringing our own wine glasses and having a no-touch pour in the middle of the driveway. The girls decorated the driveway.
My parents enjoyed their dinner together and when it was time for cake, they Facetimed us so we could sing happy birthday again!
We took a break from eating our dinner, which looked identical to theirs! 
We will celebrate at The Palm in time when this all passes. Until then, I hope he enjoyed the thoughtfulness behind this year’s celebration.