We always celebrated my Dad’s November birthday on Thanksgiving Day, even after he entered a nursing home. As years went on, these events took on a(n)   21  meaning – a traditional birthday party for Dad, and a personal   22  for all that he had done for me in my life.

When we knew that it might be Dad’s   23  birthday, the whole family decided to come together for a huge birthday celebration at the nursing home. It was a crowded party __24_all of us sitting around him. Dad was a wonderful   25   , and here was a biggest audience he’d ever had.

During a quiet moment, I announced that it was now Dad’s turn to   26  stories from us. I wanted everyone to tell Dad what we loved about him.   27 , we told stories from our hearts,   28  Dad listened with wet, flashing blue eyes. We   29  all kinds of lost memories – sto ries about when we were little, stories about when Dad was young and stories that are shared as family   30 . Even the littlest grandchildren couldn’t   31  to tell their grandfather why they loved him. For a man who had been kind to so many people in his life, here was our   32  to honor him.