Monday, June 22, 2009

A Special Birthday Celebration

Today is a very special birthday – one we certainly would celebrate in a very different way if we had the chance. Our son-in-law would have been thirty-five years old today! While it will not be an easy day for our daughter and her three young children, my sweetheart and I are going to join them on an excursion of celebration. A celebration of the fun times they had with their dad and of the life he lived and enjoyed so much. We are off to the zoo today! Not just any zoo – the Oregon Zoo in Portland. Just about the time most commuters arrive at work we will board a brand new commuter train just a few miles from our daughter’s home and have the ride of our lives as we see the world around us from the comfort of the train. After a transfer to another commuter train we will arrive at the zoo not long after the animals have had their breakfast. We don’t know how long we will stay but each of us has hopes to see something special and we will try to see it all!

Zoo Butterfly

Our zoo is famous for its elephant breeding program. When I was still very young world-famous Packy was born and captured the hearts of us all. He will be there today and many of his children, too. We hope to see the newest baby and his mother.

Baby Packy

I always enjoy the penguins and I know the children can’t wait to see the monkeys.

Zoo Monkeys

We will take our time and we may ride the zoo train while we are there. For sure we will get hungry and there are so many places to eat that we may have trouble choosing the perfect place to enjoy lunch!

Zoo Cafe

No matter what we see and do we will certainly wish our dear one could be there with us. He would have loved it – that’s why we chose to go to the zoo together on his special day.

Photos courtesy of Oregon Zoo

8 comments:

  1. A beautiful way to celebrate your son's life, Adrienne!

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  2. I often thnk about your family and wonder how they are doing (because our son in law had his heart problem at the same time)
    That will be a nice way to spend the day.
    We visited the Portland Zoo when our kids were small and enjoyed the penguins.

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  3. What a beautiful way to celebrate his life!Blessings~Sharon

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  4. What a bittersweet time for you all, but so good to be together on this day. blessings, marlene

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  5. What a beautiful celebration of a precious life.

    Blessings and hugs from the creek!
    Liz

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  6. I've often thought of your daughter and her children. I pray they are finding comfort in the arms of our Lord.
    I hope the day at the park was wonderful..
    love, bj

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  7. Such a wonderful way to celebrate his birthday. I'm sure it was very special for Melissa and the kids. A joyous way to remember a precious loved one.

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  8. Hey Lady! I'm so far behind with my blogging!

    Can't wait to hear all about the zoo trip, what a nice way to celebrate the children's dad's birthday.

    Thanks for your comments about Elisabeth and the tea room. I wish we lived close together, wouldn't it be fun to go to tea rooms together!

    Katherine

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I am grateful that you stopped by to visit me. Your kind and gracious comments are appreciated and treasured.