Happy Birthday...

So as most of you know, my dad is officially 60 today!  It's been a good few days of partying and celebrating with family and friends and we're off again tonight for dinner at Pancho's with the family.  Pancho's has been around forever and we all really enjoy the atmosphere and food.  Not to mention the frozen margaritas...

Just for fun, I had a quick look on the net and have done a little "this day in history" list below.  The list is much longer, but I've just picked out a few that might be of interest... 

615 - Columbanus, Irish monastery founder/poet/saint, dies  

800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III 
912 - Otto I (the Great) German king, Holy Roman emperor (962-973), is born 
1165 - Pope Alexander III returns from exile to Rome 
1249 - Ajjoeb, sultan of Egypt, dies 
1334 - St Clemens Flood and a dike breaks at Flemish/Zeeuwse/Dutch coast  
1499 - Flemmish man, Perkin Warbeck, is hanged in London for pretending to be lost son of King Edward IV 
1835 - the first horseshoe manufacturing machine was patented 
1859 - Billy the Kid, [William H Bonney] is born in NYC
1863 - Patent granted for a process of making color photographs
1899 - the first jukebox makes it's debut in san francisco at the Palais Royal Hotel
1904 - 3rd Olympic games close in St Louis
1909 - the Wright Brothers form million dollar corp to manufacture airplanes
1942 - Col-gen Von Paul asks Hitler to surrender 
1942 - German 4th & 6th Army surrounded at Stalingrad 
1942 - Japans bombing of Port Darwin, Australia
1945 - US rationing of most foods, including meat and butter, ends   
1960 - Tinseltown dedicated its Walk of Fame at Hollywood Blvd & Vine St 
1963 - "Doctor Who," the long-running British sci-fi series debuts in England 
1963 - JFK's body, lay in repose in East Room of White House (he was assissinated at the age of 46 on 22 November)
1964 - the Rolling Stones showed up late for a radio shows Top Gear and Saturday Club and were banned by the BBC 
1964 - Beatles release "I Feel Fine" & "She's a Woman"   
1965 - The Beatles shoot promotional clips for "I Feel Fine," "Ticket to Ride," "Help!," "Day Tripper," and "We Can Work It Out" at London's Twickenham Studios.
1966 - Elvis Presley's 22nd movie, "Spinout", opens in US cinemas 
1967 - Birth of Gary Kirsten, cricketer (South African lefty opening batsman 1993-)
1974 - 60 Ethiopia govt officials executed
1976 - Police arrested Jerry Lee Lewis outside the gates of Graceland after he shows up for the second time that night and makes a scene by shouting, waving a pistol and demanding to see Elvis Presley. 
1979 - Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is released and sells 6 million copies in 2 weeks
1980 - around 4800 people were killed in South Italy in a series of earthquakes 
1985 - 58 die as Egyptian commandos storm hijack Egyptair jet in Malta
1988 South Africa: Botha reprieves Sharpeville Six
1990 - Rald Dahl dies at the age of 74 
1991 - A day before he dies, Freddie Mercury, 45, confirms he has AIDS
1991 - Michael Jackson's song "Black Or White" debuted at #1 in the U.K. 
1991 - Evander Holyfield TKOs Bert Cooper in 7 for heavyweight boxing title 
1992 - 10,000,000 cellular telephone sold  
1992 - Miley Cyrus, American actress and singer is born 
2001 - Convention on Cybercrime is signed in Budapest, Hungary. 
2007 - MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sank in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands. 
2010 - An additional 23 soldiers from the Bangladesh Rifles are sentenced to imprisonment for mutiny in February 2009

So, what can I tell you about my dad?  Well... Christened Jonathan Roy, he was born 5 years after his elder brother, Brian.  Actually, in modern times, the two of them are more like twins than 5 years apart and it's quite funny to see them together.  The family lived in Sea Point and my dad attended the local schools.  Listening to his speech on Saturday night, he has many fond memories of his youth, from days at the pavilion, to "fighting battles" on Signal Hill. Sadly, my grandfather died at the age of 48, when my dad was just 17.  His death obviously left a huge gap in the family and my grandmother remained single till her dying day.

My dad met my mom at a friend's 21st, where she was blind date to a friend and her best friend was my dad's date.  Mom was petrified her date would try kiss her goodnight, so she asked my dad to give her a lift when he dropped her friend off a few doors up the road.  Needless to say the rest is history .  They were married on 31 August 1974.  3 years later, I arrived, followed by Joanne a year later and Rosanne another 7 years on.  

All that aside, we are just lucky to have him and he has given us so much support and love over the years, especially in the time following Jacques' death.  I don't know how I would've managed to get through some of the haunting tasks that needed to be to dealt with if it wasn't for him.  The countless unpleasant phone calls he made on my behalf, the trips he made to see investigators, the paperwork he helped me fill out, the decisions he helped make - I couldn't have done it and I know none of it was easy for him either.  And let me not mention the late nights he spent wrapping up all the glasses in my kitchen in newspaper.  He was a pillar of strength to us all during the worst moments in my life.  

Anyway... Dad, from both Jake and I, you have been the best Dad/Pa we could've ever have wished for and we love you so much.  Happy 60th birthday, you deserve the happiest day ever!

Lots of love,

Sue XXX


PS.  The picture used at the top was taken in a library when my dad was little.  It was printed in the newspaper.  See, we were all cute once upon a time!!