Epic bash postponed, but 100th birthday still celebrated
CENTER TWP — I thought of the 34 treasured family members who planned to fly or drive in from California, Georgia, the Carolinas, New Mexico, New York and Ohio to celebrate the 100th birthday party of my dear Daddy, Jim Davis, at American Legion Post 117 in Butler.
Our epic bash — one year in the making — was scheduled for Sunday, March 22. He turned a century old the next day.
I thought of the 1,116 cookies — not an exaggeration — baked for the event by my dear sister-in-law and niece.
The decorations bought online with love by my sister-in-law, the loss of income by the purveyors of the food and beer we ordered, the would-be performance by my son with his banjo of the song “Grandpa's Chair in the Basement,” which was the result of my Dad's still-furtive imagination and poetic skill.
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Yes, the man with no musical background wrote a three-verse song about the actual tobacco juice-stained abomination in his basement, which his family fictionally tried to discard. Among the lyrics:
“Grandpa's chair in the basement
It really was a farce,
The cloth was torn,
Pretty well worn,
But the seat fit Grandpa's arse.”
A year of planning all canceled, thanks to a new bug whose unpredictable effect on the human body would likely have rendered him unable to celebrate his 101st had we foolishly gone ahead with the party.We were all disappointed, to say the least, but Dad's lifelong pragmatic character shined through — a true testament to his credit and an attribute of the three digits in his age.“Eh, whaddaya gonna do? Things happen,” Dad replied when we decided to cancel the party.Thankfully, the special surprises I had in store for him were still carried that Sunday, albeit at his home before a few immediate and raw-handed family members.
The first surprise I lined up was an official proclamation by our three county commissioners, which Commissioner Kevin Boozel read movingly and loudly from the sidewalk Dad poured in front of the porch he built at the home he erected in the mid-1950s, where we five kids grew up and in which he still lives.I saw Kevin coming and my brother and I yelled, “Dad! Get up and put your jacket on!” while the others assembled on the porch. A more confused face I haven't seen on our old timer since the advent of bell bottoms.After he and Boozel elbow-bumped and chatted for a few minutes from a distance, I presented Dad with a package sent from Bury St. Edmunds, England, where he served with the 8th Air Force, 94th Bomb Group, U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II as a propeller specialist on the B-17 Flying Fortress.Inside was an American flag specially flown over the former tower at Rougham Air Field, his air base in Bury St. Edmunds more than 75 years ago. The tower is now Rougham Control Tower Aviation Museum, and a sweet woman named Wendy Sage runs it.Sage also included a photo of Old Glory flying high in the spot normally occupied by a Union Jack, a wonderful birthday card and a unit pin signifying the 94th.A large envelope and triangular shadowbox were next presented to Dad from the office of U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, who had originally planned to present it himself at the Legion party.A flag Kelly ordered flown over the U.S. Capitol on March 3 in honor of Dad's special milestone, plus a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for reaching the century mark, delighted the birthday boy and those looking on wet-eyed.Kelly included a beautiful letter to Dad on U.S. Congress stationary with many touching sentiments, including “Throughout your lifetime, you have witnessed some of the roughest challenges in our nation's history, but by your life, faith and dedication toward making life better for your family and future generations, you have met each with great success.”
Dad has endured it all — the stock market crash; the Great Depression when his family endured a dinner of a slice of bread covered in weak coffee once per week; World War II when Dad and his brother, Jack Fair, did not hesitate to answer their country's call; polio and tuberculosis epidemics; the Civil Rights upheaval; the Kent State shootings; losing his beloved nephew in Vietnam; and the passing, one-by-one, of his contemporaries.And he has weathered these storms with his special brand of dignity and common sense, along with a large helping of faith in God and an innate positive attitude.“I think people are basically good,” Dad can frequently be heard saying.So let's all of us, instead of whining about our current, sometimes lonely and frustrating situation, meet this era's rough challenge as Dad has met so many, with strength, patience, diligence, faith and serenity, and maybe our reward will be to live to see 100 “with great success.”Paula Grubbs is a Butler Eagle staff writer.
