Somewhere, the official photographer for Joe’s retirement community has a wonderful photo of him with all four of his children and quite a few pictures of the great many neighbors, friends, and family who all helped him celebrate his 100th birthday. I was too busy chatting with people to get any of these myself but my husband did manage to snap a photograph of the two of us with my father – his former son-in-law, Clint – and my sister, Kjerstin.
In the picture, it seems like an intimate setting, just the four of us. There is no clue at all that there at least one person there for each of Joe’s one hundred years and that I had to wait for 45 minutes or more for even a chance to briefly say hello and congratulations and happy birthday because so many other people wanted to do the exact same thing. I believe Joe was equal parts surprised and happy at the great turnout.
Next, we’ll be talking about the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame induction ceremony in April. It seems a long way off now, but I imagine the time will go by a lot more quickly than we realize!
