Today, January 4, is Dave’s birthday. It would have been his 50th so it was important to share this post on this special day for Dave and for me and Sierra too.
For years after Dave died, Sierra and I would get him a card and write a note to him and get a cake for his bday. It was important for us to continuing celebrating him.
A cake Sierra and her Aunty Mo made for Dave’s bday in 2008
Sierra with a cake we got to celebrate her dad’s birthday back in maybe 2010.
Tonight, we will do something special to remember him as well as add butterfly #50 to the David Tree that we put up every year during the holidays. (Story about our David Tree)
Sierra and I decorating the David Tree for Christmas with a butterfly for each year of Dave’s age. We add another butterfly to celebrate his birthday January 4th.
I’ve always preferred small, quiet celebrations for my birthday. I still do! I enjoy organizing surprises for other people, and I have to say, I’m pretty good at it! However, everyone who knows me knows I’m not a fan of being surprised with a party. No parties for me please! I do not like being the center of attention. This is where Dave and I were opposites. He loved being the center of attention and he was good at it!
Dave making fun of some clothes a family member got him as a gift. 🙂
A past birthday celebrating with his family back east. The cake had both his name and his sister, Maryellen’s name on it since their birthdays were close. But notice who the cake is in front of 🙂
For his 35th birthday, I decided to throw a surprise party for him at our house. Sierra was 2 years old at the time. I asked our friends and business associates of Dave’s, Dave Simonson and Sue Stischer to pretend that there was a photo shoot at Maalaea Harbor which my Dave would be part of. The photo shoot ended up being “canceled” and Simonson kept Dave out for a drink to give me time to set up. Friends and family arrived on time and I had them hide their cars in our neighbor’s driveway. I also asked Simonson to distract him and get him to look in the opposite direction as they entered our driveway. We had to be extra careful because Dave was always super aware of everything around him.
Success! It worked out perfectly! Dave had no idea that we had been planning the surprise! Of course, he didn’t really react when he showed up because he’s tool cool for that! Lol! But…. I knew we got him!
Sierra was looking through some DVDs the other day and found the video of the surprise party!
Dvd of Dave’s 35th birthday surprise party!
Our long-time friend, Brian Lynx did an excellent job filming and narrating the video. Dave edited the video himself. I’m so glad we have this available to watch again and again! I’m sharing here for friends and family to be able to see him and hear his voice again and also for those who only know him through my shared posts and memories.
Dave was cool guy in many ways and he always made me laugh even if he was deliberately being annoying. But I’ll save those stories for another post 🙂
I donated all of Dave stuff except for a few things. One of them happens to be one of the gifts he got from the birthday party. I kept this because it describe Dave perfectly, “The Amazing Dad”.
Amazing Dad shirt from 35th bday
Dave, the Amazing Dad and Sierra at Disney
Reading to Sierra at bedtime. Same books over and over and over. Barney was a fave!
At the beach in Kihei, Maui. One of my favorite pics because of the way Sierra is looking at her daddy.
Happy 50th birthday Dave. I miss you more than ever.
Extra note: Every time he picks up Sierra in the video…oh boy…it’s hard for me to not get emotional. Lots of tissues used on this post.