Celebrating Tommy's 40th

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     "Hail Mary"                                           https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
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​Celebrating Tommy's 40th

        This past Monday, September 2, was my son Tommy's 40th birthday.

      Funny how our children's birthdays can stir up memories of times gone by, those dear old times when our children were still children.

​     Alas, we can't bring back our children's childhoods (nor, in truth, do we really want to), but we can celebrate who they've grown up to be - in Tommy's case,  among other things, a systems analyst for Children's Hospital, 

...activist for good causes,

...musician,

...and, with his wife, Emily, caregiver for special needs dogs.

     And so for Tommy's 40th birthday celebrate we did, with a dozen family members and feasting.   
          The day started, as party days always do, with preparation. 

       We'd planned a cookout, and on the menu were:
       Hamburgers
       Veggie burgers
       Brats
       Mashed potato casserole*
       Oven-fried sweet potato chunks
       Fiesta corn*
       Home made coleslaw*
       Veggies and dip
       For dessert there were:
       Brownies*
       Blueberry  strawberry crumble bars*
      Cherry pie*
       and, of course, birthday cake, which we bought from Meijer's  
        (*I'll share these recipes in the next post)

       On the morning of the party in a moment of whimsy  I dashed out to the Dollar Tree and picked up a passel of those great $1.50 Dollar Tree helium balloons, which I set loose in the living room, ​

...and the family room.

      (I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Dollar Tree is the place to go for helium balloons. [See post from 8/15/2015, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/the-persistence-ofmemoryballoons] ). 
​       At 5 pm the relatives began arriving.

...and when the food was all ready and set out,

...we gathered around the table to say grace and, as long as were we were all there, to sing happy birthday.

      Then we dug in,

...and had the Birthday Guy officially cut the cake so that everyone could feel free to cut themselves a slice.

      Some of us opted to eat in the backyard,

...and some in the living room.

      Then we sat - or stood - around chatting,

...going back for seconds, thirds, and fourths,

...and otherwise enjoying the evening,

...until it was time for everyone to go,

...some taking a few leftovers or balloons for the road.

      Then came the post-party cleaning up.

      However, we decided not to take down the setting up we'd done for the party (except for mayhaps recycling the mylar balloons as wrapping paper).

      For as it turns out, we have another feast to host coming up next week...