Happy 75th Birthday to Pop Pop! (6/16/07)

Yesterday my father turned 75 years old, and Thursday the whole family got together to celebrate. It's been two years since we've all been together, and it was great! The cousins really seemed to enjoy playing together. But most of all, we enjoyed celebrating Pop Pop!

My gift to my dad was an album full of greetings from his family, friends, and colleagues. I collected tributes from about 65 different people, mounted them on to artwork by the boys, and assembled them all together. It was amazing! Not often does a girl get to hear how many lives her father has touched, and that in fact, he has made a difference in the world!

For my page, I continued a tribute I started on dad's 70th birthday, entitled, "70 Reasons My Daddy Is The Greatest". And so I added 5 more. So that everyone can see what a great guy he is to me, I present them all to you...

Teaching me to catch a softball in the front yard. ~~ Breakfasts at the Pancake Cottage. ~~ Trips to the Smithsonian Museums. ~~ Always being home for family dinner. ~~ Trips to the National Zoo. ~~ Dancing to polka music in the living room. ~~ "The Cannibal King with the big nose ring." ~~ Back scratches. ~~ European vacation (1972). ~~ Teaching me about refinishing wood. ~~ Trips to the ballet (The Nutcracker, Copelia). ~~ Letting us get Brandy. ~~ Climbing to the top at Mont St. Michel. ~~ "Mares eat oats and does eat oats." ~~ Shandy in London. ~~ Being at all my concerts. ~~ Playing recorder duets together. ~~ Beach vacations even though you hate the sand. ~~ Helping me with my homework. ~~ Making me do my science fair project myself. ~~ Taking me to your work late at night to retype my term paper. ~~ Wir sprechen Deutsch. ~~ Gansel and Hetel. ~~ European vacation (1985). ~~ Teaching me to drive a stick shift. ~~ Taking me to see Mickey Mouse in California and Florida. ~~ Staying in motels during our Canadian vacation instead of camping. ~~ Letting me borrow your shirts and sweaters. ~~ Teaching me to drive a car. ~~ Riding on your back while you swam laps. ~~ Getting toppled by the waves at the beach. ~~ Going downstairs first on Christmas to make sure Santa was gone. ~~ Paying for my college education. ~~ Painting your fingernails and toenails. ~~ Tickling your feet with blades of grass. ~~ Teaching me about growing a vegetable garden. ~~ Helping me put lights in my dollhouse. ~~ European vacation (1977). ~~ Encouraging me to be involved with the family reunions. ~~ Cleaning my condo the day I moved out. ~~ Helping me buy my homes. ~~ Riding the tractor and picking fruit at Granddaddy's farm. ~~ The Anstead Family Handshake. ~~ Setting an educational example by getting your Masters. ~~ Being such a hard worker to provide for your family. ~~ Helping me learn from my mistakes. ~~ Bringing me home little gifts from your business trips. ~~ Cutting down our own Christmas trees. ~~ Taking me on extra trips when I visited you in Paris. ~~ Including me when you had guests over. ~~ Keeping my tree picture in your office for so many years. ~~ Going to away football games with me. ~~ Always willing to help with home improvement projects. ~~ Fast-forwarding during R-rated videos. ~~ "Study hard, work hard, be good." ~~ Picking blackberries by Cabin John Park. ~~ Trips to Butler's Orchard. ~~ Taking me to concerts at Cabin John Park. ~~ Going along to Billy Joel, live in concert when I was in 5th grade. ~~ European vacation (1982). ~~ Trips to the opera. ~~ Taking me to see James Galway and Jean Pierre Rampal. ~~ Making me learn to change a car tire. ~~ Making me help bang out the dents when I had trouble parallel parking. ~~ Calling or emailing me from your business trips. ~~ Just listening. ~~ Bringing foreign exchange students in to our home. ~~ Bringing me to Paris (1991, 1993). ~~ Taking me to Trond's wedding in Norway. ~~ You’re going to be a great granddaddy too! ~~ For being willing to travel to South Carolina so much. ~~ Helping us move. ~~ Taking a more inconvenient flight to Vienna so you could be here for Matthew's baptism. ~~ I couldn't have asked for a better grandfather for my boys. ~~ For always being so supportive of not only me, but also Greg, Michael, and Matthew.