Serving a mission requirers sacrifice, and I think one of the hardest sacrifices we face is not being able to participate in family events; especially family events like great grandchildren being born, graduations, plays, concerts, missionary farewells, anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
Having a birthday on Leap Year is kind of unique and most people tend to remember it and reach out to wish Stan a Happy Birthday. This year he received about 100 birthday messages through emails, phone calls, phone messages, texting, cards, etc. He appreciated them all, and it took a while for him to get to them all and respond.
Yes, he tried hard to respond to each person in some way. Why? Well, I think it is because he is like his father. Even though Stan's father died when Stan was about five weeks old, Stan has some characteristics that I have noticed in a few of the documents we have of his father. One of these is that his father cared about people and relationships and made an effort to keep friendships alive -- that is Stan too. (Another characteristics is Stan's attention to details and liking things a particular way. I believe Bill, his father, was this way as well. And I won't be surprised when we all get to meet "Daddy Bill" someday and see how many characteristics his children have had in common with him.)
As family we have all become accustom to wishing Stan a "Happy Birthday" on February 28th only to have him reply along the lines of, "Thanks! But it's not my birthday." So, since we could not be with family for Stan's REAL birthday this year, I decided I would see if the missionaries would like to help celebrate it with us. Of course, Stan made it very clear to me that he didn't want any kind of party, but by the time he had actually voiced that to me, it was too late. I had already enlisted the help of others to put together a surprise for him.
With February 29th being an actual day this years, and after 18 days with no breaks, I decided we could make an appearance at the MBHS and then take the rest of the 29th off. I arranged for a us to tour the aircraft carrier, Midway, in San Diego Harbor. We spent about four hours on the ship and then walked to Sea Port Village to get some lunch. Gratefully, it was a beautiful day for this. (It had been cloudy and rainy.) As we walked to Sea Port, a street musician started playing the clear, beautiful notes of "Happy Birthday" on his trumpet. What are the odds!? It was enjoyable to stop and visit with him and find out that he always makes sure to play "Happy Birthday" on February 29th. He said someone usually comes along with that birthday.
After lunch I casually suggested we go back to MBHS to see one of our new sisters, Sister Azpeita, give us the last tour of the day; 4:15. While we were on the tour the sisters set up the party. The following pictures of the famous "Kissing" statue, the Midway, and the surprise party help to capture his birthday memories.
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