birthday boy

The photo is of the birthday boy, my dad, Chuck Zimmerman.

The occasion is his 80th birthday party, held yesterday evening. And to think that a year ago, his greatest gift was coming home after two weeks in the Meijer Heart Center. My mom decided then and there that this party was going to be BIG. We're talking BIG, because she knows how to throw a party!

We had about eighty people there. Fraternity brothers from Beloit College, tennis buddies old and young, doctors, lawyers, new friends from the retirement community. And of course, our core family.

How many people get honored by young and old alike at such a celebration? Of course we did hear about some escapades (Polly and her parrot, for Pete's sake). But there were a couple of stories that really struck me.

There's the time that our church was bitterly divided, with a pastor that was doing wrong. My dad wasn't on the session, but one night as they met, the story was told of my dad coming into the room and sitting down at the table. When asked why he had come, he said, "I wanted to be here to pray with you during this difficult time."

Another person said that my dad is truly a man who lives his faith. He doesn't talk about it, but he sure walks it out. Whether it is his commitment to my mom (who he referred to as "the love of my life" in his opening remarks last evening), his dedication to the Salvation Army, or his willingness to arrange an intervention for an alcoholic friend, he quietly does the right thing. That doesn't mean he's perfect by any means, but I think he has a healthy sense of God's grace and doesn't let his mistakes stop him.

So when I spoke, it began with the statement that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Because my dad has invested in people - because he thinks for himself and speaks his mind - because he lives his faith, so do I.

And in a strange way it comforts me to know that although I won't have him here forever, he will be here.

Because those lessons live on in me.