Happy Birthday Up There!

So it's September 21st, and in my house that used to mean a special day where my mom, sister and I would go to Baskin Robins at get a turtle pie (pictured below)

Thats because September 21st was my Dad's birthday - and that was the dessert that he actually liked (or at least pretended to like, for his daughters' sake).

For those of you who aren't aware, my Dad passed away about a year and a half ago, but if he were alive, he would have been 53 today. My Dad was never that into celebrating his birthday, but he loved us all enough to play along with all of our mandatory celebrations and gifts anyway with a big smile on his face.

Playing along with our birthday escapades was only one of the many reasons to love this amazing man, and so in honor of his birthday I'm going to share a few more...

1. He was an actor, writer, director, and well-rounded artist

Dad always had a flare for performance. Earlier in my childhood he an active cast member at the local community theater, and I remember seeing him in plays including "Noises Off", "Sylvia", "The Premature Corpse", and "The Boys Next Door". Later on he became on entrepreneur in partnering to create Finn Viking Productions, a company that produced comedy dinner theater local restaurants and banquet facilities.
After a year or so Finn Viking bought a theater and renovated it to make it the amazing performance space that it is today.

Outside of work however, his skills as a director and writing were put to good use in the context of training Caroline and I in the ways of performance and story telling. From the time we were little, Caroline and I were involved in vocal performance, theater, dance, and voice lessons. Dad was our biggest fan and our harshest critic. I can even remember getting a little fed up after one too many "Thats good, but try it this way...nope...Lil...do it like this..." or "You know the words but you don't own it yet."
After all that hard work, a booming "bravo!!!" from the back of the theater meant a lot more than an exemplary rating in a competition ever did. He loved us (and his craft) enough not to bullshit his feedback, and we were always better for it.

2. He was fun

I wish I had a picture from an average night that Dad would put us to bed. Caroline and I always shared a room as kids, with two parallel twin beds that he used to pull a chair between to tell us stories before we went to sleep. Our favorite was the "circle" story, where each of us took turns adding to the plot.
We also wrote stories and poems, and years later we wrote music.

He also granted us the freedom to play. He and my uncles helped build a treehouse for all of the cousins at our cabin up north (pictured above). He even took me out to the swampy creek bed in the middle of the woods after dark on several occasions armed with a flashlight and giant rubber boots to find bullfrogs purely to assuage my own curiosity.

3. He was a doctor and a chef

Well not really...but I have distinct memories of him keeping me company late into a night of the stomach flu or Bronchitis, and he had a way with making amazing flank steak.

4. He was honest

My Dad told me what he thought of just about everything, and when I asked him questions, he always told me the truth (it's amazing that I never questioned the existence of the tooth fairy as a young child in his presence). I had a lot of questions as a kid, and he never got tired of explaining the mysteries of life to me in a way that I could understand.
I learned some of my most important life lessons, and modeled many of my personal philosophies after those discussions. One time, when I was upset that someone I liked hadn't asked me to Prom, I got the FLC talk. "Things will change. Commit to someone who can be your friend, your lover, and your companion." was his advice. I think it's the best relationship advice in the world. Think about what those words mean... each one is distinct, and important. Never settle for someone who can't fit each in its own right.

5. He was my dad

and I look like him. and I heard his voice on the day I was born, and recognized it. I proudly sport his complexion and stature, and remember him in hard times and times of accomplishment.

so happy birthday up there! I hope you're enjoying a nice golf course or a bit of literature.

"All the world's a stage.
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances..."

-William Shakespeare
As You Like It