My brother, Steve, celebrated his 50th birthday this month!
He has played such an important role in my life
and I value my relationship with him.
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer
he was one of the first people to call me.
He knows the gut wrenching feeling
of receiving a devastating diagnosis,
as he was diagnosed with Parkinson's about 3 1/2 years ago.
He has the ability of making you laugh in the midst of tears.
The day he called me, he said, "I just have one question...
where was the lifeguard at our gene pool?"
We laughed and cried together that day
and he and my sister-in-law, Cindy,
have been a huge support for me during the past year!
Steve and Cindy with their four beautiful daughters, Danah, Jennifer, Stephanie & Leslie.
Danah came in from WI to celebrate her dad's big day!
Steve and "kids" from his youth group...back in the day!They planned and executed a surprise
Luau 50th Birthday Celebration!
They did an incredible job of honoring Steve and showing their
heart-felt appreciation for his sacrifice during their teen years.
He was emotional and speechless!
They're all 30+ now and have families of their own.
Some of them were a "real challenge" during their youth.
It was so awesome to be together with them again
and learn about their families, careers,
and most of all, their spiritual growth!
My sister Karen, her husband John, Art and I were allinvolved with Steve during his ministry as Youth Pastor.
Art and I served and taught some of these kids
during their Jr. High years.
One, of them is Jeff, who is now our son-in-law!!
My mom and dad started it all...in many ways!Dad was the Pastor of the church for 30+ years!
Dad had just come home from the care center a week earlier
and we were thrilled to have him there with us.
Posts
5 comments:
I love the pictures! Your brother has a wonderful sense of humor - I loved the lifeguard joke:) How wonderful that your dad was able to get out of home care!
Happy Birthday Uncle Steve! It was such a wonderful party and we loved hanging out with everyone. What a fun night full of memories from the past ;o)
It looks like you had an awesome time with the family. You are very blessed to have such a wonderful brother. It's great that you are able to be a support system for each other
Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. Shawnie mentioned several months back that Tim was making a video for Steves 50th birthday. It's nice that they had a party for him to. Everyone still looks the same. Just more "mature". From reading the bloggs I see that Shawnie and Cherie are becoming friends, strange how things turn out. Shawnie and Cherie could be BFF how funny is that.
That was such a fun night. Memories we will all have forever. Thanks for all your help and support. Love ya.
Post a Comment