The happy Ed-ucation of a family

The real gift of any birthday is the celebrant’s presence on this old earth, and the precious opportunity to honor it together.

And, if the birthday boy happens to choose a classic Up North Supper Club for his birthday party, well, then, everybody wins.

We got to celebrate our daughter Katherine’s fiance Ed’s birthday Wednesday night at the Boarding House in Suring and, man oh man, were we happy to raise our Old Fashion glasses to him.

Ed will officially join our family later this year, but he has been a valued member of it since the day we met. He brought our daughter home to Wisconsin for Christmas four years ago and that would have been enough for us to welcome him with our sometimes over-the-top enthusiasm.

But, he brought so much more:

a precision we wing-it folks admire and often require,

an unquenchable desire to chop wood,

an enthusiasm for snow forts and wild children who like to play in them,

an eye for seeing beauty and enhancing it through photography,

a casual worldliness and strong sense of adventure,

a competitive spirit for games (much like our two daughters in-law),

his own ping pong paddle and the talent to wield it,

the ability to build a roaring fire out of soggy logs, a little kindling and a couple of well-placed breaths,

the sweetest rescue dog in all the land.

Ed has taught me all kinds of useful skills like how to choose the best credit card to maximize my travel points, how to drive a stick shift car on the left side of a no-shoulder road, how to patiently assess a situation before reacting (work in progress for me), how to negotiate a contract, and so much more.

So, here’s to Ed! And to birthdays! And to families and the delightful ways they expand.

Happy birthday week Ed! You’ve got two more days to stretch out the celebration before we turn our attention to Keith and his December birthday.

Let’s go!