Celebrating 80 Years

It was a party.  Indeed it was.  My Beloved Beautiful Better Half planned and hosted a celebration for my 80th birthday on Saturday.  There were more than fifty guests present.  Imagine that.

 BBBH designed and ordered the cake.  She very thoughtfully, and in consideration of the guests, chose  to put no candles on it.  She could well imagine any inept effort I might have made at blowing them out.

 One-time coworkers and long-time friends enjoying the swing.  Fortunately, the S-hook did not give way until later in the afternoon.  My son was the recipient of that jolt.  No permanent injury, thankfully.

 I asked these two ladies to pose together, for they are two people who saved me from untold grief over the years.  Dee, on the left, was my secretary for 12 years, Elsa filled that position for six years.

 Good friends and faithful.

 Martha and her husband, Joe, with whom I have a lot in common.  Like me, he is son of a preacher.  Like me, he was a career educator, and like me, he taught mathematics.  Joe was born in July of 1934, as was I.  But I am older than he by a very few days.

 Son Delbert and wife, Denise.  Daughter Ann and her husband, Mike in th background, and almost hidden, my son Kenneth.

 My sister, Vee (left) and her husband, Elvin, came all the way from Kansas to help me celebrate!  She is talking with Martha, my first wife's sister.  She and her hubby, Loren, came from Ft. Wayne.

The hostess and the honoree.

Gene (left) brought Sherry (center) on his Harley, a round trip of a hundred miles.  Cyndy came all the way from Bloomington, Illinois.  These guests are special because Sherry was a student in my sixth grade class the first year I taught, and Cyndy was a student teacher under my supervision when I taught math.  She recently retired from a career as a university mathematics professor.

Here's a better picture of son Kenny posing with BBBH.

There were many, many more callers whom I have not pictured here, though I am pleased that I have pictures of most of them.  I am abundantly blessed, and can in no way adequately express my appreciation to the people who have stood beside me over the years, and who still stand with me!

(Or should I say, "Who can still stand me"?)