The Big 7-0

My father-in-law, Harold, turned 70 last Saturday. His four children and their spouses had a meeting a few weeks ahead of time to talk about what to do to celebrate such a big occasion. They wanted to make sure we celebrated Harold. A $4 steak somewhere in Springville? Maybe. Chinese food at a restaurant called "The T-Bone"? Hmmmm. Mostly we wanted to hear some of his life stories and we wanted our children to hear them too. So we rented a room, had real Chinese food, and put the video camera on him (and others) for some good stories.

First his buddy, Errol, told some huntin' stories. As I took photos of the family members listening to Errol I noticed something. Harold and all of his boys were laughing so hard they looked like they were crying. The rest of us just smiled. My theory that hunting stories are interesting/funny only to those who lived them is proving correct. (There's Jed and Kalvin listening politely while Kyle and Brian are laughing it up in the background.) It was a sweet tribute, though. Harold and his boys have gone hunting together since the boys were (almost) old enough to carry a back pack. Most of those trips were just Harold and the boys. They not only survived, I think it's made them better men and more loyal to each other.

Each of Harold's children procured a story from one of his siblings (conveniently he has four siblings). We heard everything from a little brother's poopy pants ruining a hunt (with sling shots), to shopping for shoes with his sister, to amazing tales of Harold walking on his hands around the block. Then we watched a DVD slideshow of pictures from the last 70 years. Did you know The Wizard of Oz came out in 1939? I'm just saying - a lot has changed. Some of Harold's childhood pictures looked like they came right out of an episode of "The Little Rascals".

After the pictures Harold took the floor to tell his version of some of his life stories. Except the one about meeting Denise. Everyone knows the wife tells the love story better. :) (I know I do.) Harold and Denise met at the police station. No wonder Denise needed to explain, eh? I was going to leave it there, but I want the two of them to speak to me again, so Denise was working at the police station and Harold came in to pay a speeding ticket.

My favorite stories were the high school and college football stories. In Brian's family the men are often referred to as "gorillas" because they don't seem to know their own strength or understand their relationship to the space around them. You know, accidentally knocking over chairs, running into small children because they didn't see them. Being a gorilla in life is sometimes difficult, but it makes them good at football. Harold's father would run along with him on the sidelines during football games to the shouts of "WATCH OUT!" from the fans who would get knocked out of the way. (This is very random, but see the flower Bridget's wearing? It's a headband for a small baby and Bridget thinks it's a necklace. So cute.)

We heard mission stories and stories about traveling with his parents and siblings from Utah to Missouri (his father's family's home) every year. He avoided the most important question, though. Harold addresses every birthday and Christmas card, "To Our Favorite Child." He also adds not to tell anyone about that person being the favorite. The final question on the program was, "Who really is your favorite?" Like a true diplomat, he said it's his wife, Denise.