We celebrated my father's 60th birthday party over the weekend and had a blast with relatives and friends.
Instead of telling you all about my dad... I'm just going to share the speech I delivered that evening:
"On
behalf of my mom and sisters, we thank you all for being here tonight
to celebrate our dad's 60th birthday. We felt very inclined to
celebrate his birthday this year because when he turned 50, not all
three daughters were able to join him. Also, two years ago, my dad became
gravely ill and we were afraid we'd lose him. I reflected a lot during
this period and realized how fragile life is. I thought to myself that
if God allowed my dad to be around for his 60th birthday, we would
celebrate it, even if it meant a small family party at the house where we
grew up.
My dad is not a perfect man. Sometimes he's extremely
temperamental like my late grandfather, Papa Panchito. He is oftentimes
controversial, opinionated and stubborn in his ideas. But he is a very
happy and passionate man whose love for world cultures, music and folklore has become contagious. Lately, he's shown us that it's
never too late to fulfill a lifelong dream... After having worked in
construction for many, many years in order to provide for his family and
observing later in life that his hard physical work had paid off in one way or
another, he decided to switch his full-time job to travel the world as a tour guide! That's why we
thought there wouldn't be a better theme for his birthday than this one
encompassing world cultures.
All this to say: Dad, to the world, you may just be another person. But to us, you are the world. Happy birthday, dad!"
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World-Themed Dessert Bar with goodies purchased at Cost Plus World Market, among other places |
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English Tea Cart for guests to enjoy a cup of tea |
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We made the "suitcase" centerpieces out of cereal boxes |
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Italian Panettone |
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Canadian Maple Leaf Cookies |
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Turkish treats and world trinkets and globes |
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Burlap Runners & World Themed placemats |
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Destination: Panchito's 60th Birthday! |
En español
Este fin de semana, organizamos
una fiesta para mi papá, que cumplió 60 años de edad.
Podría escribir por horas
sobre mi padre pero mejor les voy a compartir el breve discurso que pronuncié
la noche de la fiesta. Aquí les va:
En nombre de mis hermanas y
mi mamá, les queremos agradecer por acompañarnos esta tarde a celebrar el cumpleaños
de mi papá.
En esta ocasión sentimos un
deseo especial por celebrar sus 60 años de vida porque cuando cumplió 50-- no
pudimos estar las tres hijas presentes... y por qué hace dos años, se nos enfermó
gravemente mi papá y pasamos un susto que yo me puse a contemplar lo frágil que
es la vida y pensé, si Dios permite que llegue a los 60 años, vamos a
festejarlo aunque sea de manera sencilla aquí en la casa familiar.
Mi papá no es un hombre
perfecto-- a veces puede ser corajudo como lo fue mi papa panchito, que en paz
descanse. De vez en cuando es polémico, obstinado, y en sus ideas, tenaz como
ninguno.
Pero es un hombre alegre y
apasionado que siempre nos contagió con su amor por las culturas del mundo, la trova
y el folklor. Y últimamente nos ha enseñado que nunca es tarde para realizar un
sueño, pues después de haber trabajado en la construcción durante muchos años
para proveer para su familia, y observando que sus esfuerzos se habían
compensado de una manera u otra, decidió cambiar su oficio y dedicarse
totalmente a los viajes! Por eso pensamos que no había mejor manera de celebrar
su cumpleaños que con una temática del mundo.
Papi, te queremos decir que
para el mundo, quizá únicamente seas una persona más.... pero para nosotras tú
eres el mundo... feliz cumpleaños, papi!"
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We made a 5-gallon jug of Sangria! |
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A tres leches cake (representing Mexico) ended up becoming the centerpiece of the dessert bar |
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From L to R: My sister Frances, representing Germany, myself in a Mexican traditional dress and my sister Irene as a Spanish senorita. |
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We encouraged guests to come dressed representing a country of their choice |
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Delicious Tres Leches cake from "My Bakery" in Sylmar, CA |
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My beautiful cousin Alani. |
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Benny's Cousin Ethan being held by his grandmother |
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Benny and his little cousin Ethan dressed in authentic German Lederhosens |
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Here's the man of the night, my beloved father, Juan Francisco Marquez aka "Panchito" |
3 comments:
Amazing party!! But amazing to read how he changed careers!! That in itself should be a blog especially since statics say you change careers 4 times I. Your lifetime! It would be a great story to tell especially for those who fear change!! Love your blog!!
Thank you so much! Yes, he definitely changed up his career and has traveled all over the world! We're proud of him for going after his passion-- even as he enters his golden years :)
Oh my goodness! This party turned out to be a perfect one. Thanks for sharing these photos. I am also going to hire a talented party planner for my son’s 4th birthday. I hope for the best as its first time we are celebrating his birthday on this scale!
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