There they are…all dressed up like they were seventy years ago on June 5th, way back when the Decoration of Independence still had wet ink…when the smell of gun powder was still in the air at Gettysburg…when smoke still billowed up along the shores of Pearl Harbor! Yesterday we gathered together for the celebration of seventy years of marriage of Dorothy and Al Burdick. Ok, so we were three days too early…so be it.
The event was held at Sandy and Arny’s house, mostly outside of our motorhome. Weather was a bit hot, topping off in the mid-90’s around 4 pm. In the upper left picture there is a sign on the fence which says “Happy 70th Anniversary”. Table cloths had “70” all over them, as did the center pieces. In the bottom right picture we were all taking it easy, around 11:30 am, awaiting the 1:00 pm start time. My cousin Donald and wife Sherri came around 10 am from the Salinas area, and needed to head out before 3 to be back for another engagement of their own, so we had a chance to visit.
We figured around 40 people would be able to attend, and if I counted right, we had 35 there, plus Skruffy and Bubba. Two of my brother’s were unable to attend, but we did all get together at Christmas. Only one grandchild made it, and he brought his son so a great-grandchild was there too. A few friends, many nephews and nieces, great nieces and nephews (even some great-greats in there), a sister-in-law, a son-in-law, daughter-in-law, former daughter-in-law, and…
Fern who is 96 (far right) and Euleda 95 (being helped down the step in a wheelchair by Sandy with Patti making sure everyone is doing well too). Eudeda is Arny’s mother, Fern is Aunt Florence’s mother (Aunt Flo was married to my dad’s brother.)
Mom and Dad did not want any gifts…but their children, who never listened to them when we were younger, didn’t listen to that command either. Mom enjoyed the heart shaped etched glass heart with their wedding day inscribed on it. They both are going to enjoy “Lyft” much more now since we pooled our resources and got them $500 worth of Lyft Rides. The hardest part of living in the Assisted Living place is that they also gave up their car…and thank goodness for Lyft and Uber, but they seem to like Lyft much more than Uber. We gave them a $50 Lyft Gift Card, and the other $450 is being sent as email gift cards…
If you hold your mouse over the pictures, you can see the names of these folks above and below…
And the day ended with the presentation of the cake, which was gobbled up and by 3:15 nearly everyone was gone, forced away by the heat of the day. Poor Arny was cooking up burgers and hot dogs over that hot fire of his BBQ…he was glad to be able to sit down and rest, that’s for sure.
On Tuesday, dad intends to take mom out to dinner at a fancy Steak and Seafood place in Roseville…their first trip by Lyft via the gift card!
Look at what Dad gets to take off later!
(Won’t be the first time!)
What a sweet post. It was nice to see and read about your family. Happy 70th Anniversary Mom and Dad Burdick. Thanks Dave. You and Marcia enjoy your Summer but hurry back to Tampa. I love you both.
ReplyDeleteWe miss you too...but it won't be a fast trip back, still have a wedding in late July, then in August we will start back, but won't be there until late September at the earliest.
DeleteI see longevity runs in your family!! What a great celebration!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great day...wish more of the family could have been there, but with graduations, people living all over the nation, and a few unexpected illnesses with parents kept many away. Still, it was a great day.
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