5.02.2007

SIXTY!! NO WAY!












a giant happy SIXTIETH birthday to my favorite stepdad, ken... i can't believe you are sixty, ken, you look so youthful! not a day over 28... just like tom cruise. expecially after that cataract surgery!

i have lots of memories with ken... i remember the first time he came over to our house, he helped with some handy work and mom made chocolate chip cookies! a rarity!

i remember before mom and ken were married, and we would go to galena to visit him for an afternoon, ken and i would play "myst" and "x-files" on the computer! this was great, since we didn't have a computer at home...

when mom and ken got married, i transferred to a different high school. mom had to stay in freeport for a few months for her job, so it was just me and ken, roughing it at the log cabin. i'll never forget the kindness he showed to me during this transition... making me feel like i was really his daughter. it wasn't all cell phones and movies, there were rules and work involved too! you have to give in order to get!

and i'll never forget the ford ranger that i crashed just weeks after ken bought it... i thought for sure ken would be mad as a hatter, but ken just gave me a hug and said it was okay, it could be fixed, and it was most important that everyone was safe.

ken's taught me many things - how to drive stick shift, how to bleach a log cabin, how to make the best yellow cake in the world, to watch fox news, always...
but really, ken has taught me to be a responsible person, a person who plans... he has also taught me that doing little things for people can mean the world to them. ken has a habit of doing little, spontaneous things when he's around, that makes us feel really special to him... and i have tried to adopt that.

so here's to you, grandpa ken, we love you so much, and wish we could be in tennessee to spend the day with you. instead finn wore his tennessee jersey today, in honor of you! hope you get a round of golf in! happy birthday!

2 comments:

joyce said...

nice tribute, Corrie. Now I'm rushing to find an email address for Ken. I can't believe he's 60!!! Wish we'd known that was coming! So if you're reading this, Ken, hope you had a great day yesterday....and a WONDERFUL year!!

caron said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEN!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, EITHER. i miss seeing you back in hanna city...your wit is unmatched. what a joker.