A Memorable Century

EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTIONS
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A Memorable Century

  On November 8, 2018, Tom’s father, Charlie Liszkay, will be 100 years old.

   To  celebrate the occasion Tom’s sister Mary Jane,

...planned a surprise birthday party for her father at his assisted living facility in Lorain, Ohio. A surprise it had to be because we all knew that Charlie Liszkay's response to the idea of a party for himself - even to mark such an epochal  milestone as a century on the planet - would be “Like fun!”
     However, as the rest of us did happen to want to mark the event, the  surprise party took place yesterday, Saturday November 3 and did, in fact, turn out to be quite a fun event, even for the soon-to-be centenarian.
       Those who could come came, including Charlie's four children,

   All grown up now.

    Our branch of the family was represented by Tom, myself, Tommy and Emily,

...here at a brunch stop along the 3-hour trip from Columbus to Lorain,

...at an awesome little restaurant called Dmitri's,

...in the cute little town of Wellington, Ohio.

     Dmitri's

    The food was really good.

    Tom gave a special shout-out to his extra-fluffy  pancakes,

...Tommy to his potato pancakes, (with a side of also yummy broccoli cheddar)

...Emily to the enormous pile of hot, crispy fries served with her grilled cheese,

...and me to my just-perfect hash browns.

    After brunch we headed back out on the road, passing on this lovely fall day through the small northern Ohio towns,

...and farmland,

...on the way to Lorain.
      Tom noticed that he had a voicemail message that had apparently arrived while we were in the restaurant. It was his father. "They sent around invitations to a surprise party for me today at one o'clock," went his father's phone message, "I'm quite surprised."
         Still, his father didn't sound unhappy about the party or that all the residents in his assisted living facility had been invited. In fact, when we arrived,

...with 25 filled helium birthday balloons, which we'd carted in contractor bags from Columbus,

...we learned that after learning about the party he had been saying to the staff and his fellow residents, with tongue-in-cheek indignation,

..."How do you like that? My own party and I'm the only one who didn't get an invitation!"

    As it was 12:30 pm when we arrived we got straight to work setting up the balloons,

...while the other relatives set out  the place-settings and favors made by Mary Jane,

...the cake,

...and a beautiful poster,

...made by two of the grand children, Mary Jane's children Stacy and Jason.

    At one o'clock all the guests arrived,

...and the celebration began with a tribute by Tom to his father..

    Then we lit a cupcake, and after Charlie blew out the candles,

...the cake and  ice cream was passed around.

    Jason also made a card,

....which we passed around for the residents to sign.

   After I snapped this picture with Carmen, one of the super facility aids, Charlie thanked her and asked her to thank everyone else in the facility for him.

    To me he said, "It's so wonderful that all my friends and family came to celebrate my birthday." He added that he planned to have ten more birthdays.

     Charlie with his children and their spouses,

...and some of his 13 grandchildren.

   After the party we moved to the dining room/common area,  

...which offers a lovely view of Lake Erie,

...to give Charlie his birthday gifts,

...mostly Browns and Indians items,

...Charlie being dyed-in-the-wool Cleveland rooter,

...as is evidenced by the stats chart on his wall upon which he keeps track of the team scores during their respective seasons.

     Then, after walking Charlie back to his room,

...we said our good-byes.
      Wonderful it was.