I posted this on May 6, 2013 (on a different blog I had active at the time). Seven years on, much has changed, including the lack of NHL playoffs. But, I’ve been thinking of him a lot lately, and it’s time to honour him again with a couple of reblogs of posts dedicated to him.
Happy 93rd Birthday, Dad. I’m sure you are enjoying a heavenly gin and tonic, and a thick slice of chocolate, topped with premium ice cream or maybe now you like whip cream as much as I do. When I can travel again, I’ll be by for a visit. I’ll bring some wine and helium balloons. We’ll exchange tales of plagues past. Miss ya. (But you already knew that).
happy b’day: chocolate cake, helium balloons and hockey
(original publication date: May 6, 2013)
Today would be my dad’s 86th birthday. Certain protocols to follow on his b’day: a bottle of Mateus wine; several possible main courses; and of course, dessert. Not a great chef, mom did have a small repertoire of yummy comfort food such as baked beans, scalloped potatoes, roasted potatoes, 3 meat tourtiere, turkey noodle soup, and “poor man’s dinner.”
The dessert would be chocolate cake (with lots of icing) served in large or small wedges in a bowl and topped off with ice cream. Growing up, I was allowed to pick any kind of cake for my b’day . . . as long as it was chocolate. My favo(u)rite was the DQ ice cream cakes – not so chocolatey but oh, so ice creamy!
Since he passed, if I was home, I’d go to the cemetery to wish him happy b’day and have a chat about sports, history, humo(u)r. These last few years, I brought helium balloons. A brick held the ribbons down while the balloons swayed and danced in the breeze; or held fast when the wind pushed them sideways
May continues the chain of colo(u)r; lilacs and cherry trees fill the air with colo(u)r and the blending of sweet smells. As the spring bulbs (tulips, daffodils, narcissus) give way to columbines, pansies, violas and violets, colo(u)r even returns to grey spaces like cemeteries. The dancing balloons, all silvery shiny, add their own palette.
So, hey Dad, happy b’day! And the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Islanders are in the play-offs this year. You wouldn’t recognize the format, but you would still love the game. Third year you’ve shared it with Mom; sorry I’m not there to bring balloons; I’m sure you can celebrate without the trimmings.
balloons: szabojaons (pixabay.com)
chocolate cake: flitsArt (pixabay.com)
Ice hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo credit: , Wikipedia, Conrad Poirier. This image is available from Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec under the reference number P48,S1,P2493)
June 26, 2020 at 10:18 pm
Love this one. Made me cry. Liked your dad.
On Wed, May 6, 2020 at 6:56 PM Lorraine’s frilly freudian slip wrote:
> Lorraine posted: “I posted this on May 6, 2013 (on a different blog I had > active at the time). Seven years on, much has changed, including the lack > of NHL playoffs. But, I’ve been thinking of him a lot lately, and it’s time > to honour him again with a couple of reblogs of p” >
LikeLike
July 2, 2020 at 2:45 pm
Thanks. I liked him too.
LikeLike
May 8, 2020 at 2:41 am
Love and hugs my friend.
LikeLike
May 7, 2020 at 9:30 am
Indeed a lovely tribute. I lost my Dad in 1996, the day after my 40th birthday. He would have been 91 in March. Tradition had it that we had roast dinner and a Christmas Pudding on his birthday as that was his favourite.
LikeLike
May 9, 2020 at 3:23 am
The meal changed over the years; the chocolate cake never did.
For many years, I had a gin and tonic on his passing day as it was his favourite drink (the birthday Matuse wine he drank gives me migraines). He said he drank g & ts because the quinine in the tonic water prevented him from getting malaria when he was in places like Southeast Asia. Of course, the amount in tonic is much lower than the therapeutic dose — good excuse to have one now and then.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 9, 2020 at 4:58 am
reminds me of the science teacher who put a worm in a glass of water and another in a glass of whisky. The one in water was OK, the one in the alcohol died. The moral? If you drink whisky, you don’t get worms.
This is funny to me as we don’t drink alcohol at all!
LikeLike
May 7, 2020 at 2:35 am
A beautiful tribute to your Dad Lorraine 💜
LikeLike
May 9, 2020 at 3:24 am
Thanks.
LikeLike
May 9, 2020 at 4:58 am
💜💜
LikeLike