Stellarina Birthday Party

2/7/2013

We left our lovely deserts to come home and be with our lovely family!  The first thing we did was invite Marina and Stella to a “Stellarina Birthday Party!”

Stella had just turned five and in a few months Marina will be eight, so we gave them a party in between their birthdays celebrating them both....a Stellarina Party”.  They thought the idea was great fun!

I made a cake and used pink frosting as a dividing line, then frosted each side in a different color--orange for Marina’s half  and yellow for Stella’s half of the cake:



They could hardly wait to open their presents:



Presents opening is after dinner and cake, so they soon wandered off to play with the dollhouses.  They often spend hours arranging all the furniture, play food, and people “just so.”





And then it was cake and present time:





It was a very Happy Birthday party.  Grandpa can get Marina laughing and it is fun to watch them playing together:




Earlier today Dan and visited I visited Grandpa, Stella and Marina’s great grandfather.  He has been a father to me since I met him, 36 years ago. He moved into his cabin on Whidbey Island in the mid eighties, shortly after my son, Owen, was born.  He has lived close by me and watched his grandchildren grow up and his great grandchildren be born. They all adore him.

Grandpa was born in 1913 on a farm on Lopez Island.  He was a fisherman, went to sea as a third mate merchant marine, and then he joined the Seattle Police Department.  He retired the same year that I joined SPD.   This man has the most amazing stories to tell about his life and the “olden days.”  I’ve asked him tell some of his stories to Dan when we’re visited him.  Both Grandpa and Dan enjoy this and I can never hear his stories enough!

Grandpa plans to live to see his 100’s birthday in June, but his body is slowly letting go and I fear he may not make it to 100.  It is sad to see this vital active man bedridden, but so good to visit with him, hear his voice one more time, hold his hand, kiss him, and tell him I love him.




March 16, 2013:  We are in Death Valley and just got a phone call from Owen, who had cancelled a military deployment to be with Grandpa for the last six weeks.  Grandpa has died.  He slowly slipped from this world.  Grandpa is much loved and I will never forget him or his stories.  His life lives on through those who love him.