Golden.

It’s my Dad’s 50th birthday today!

I kinda’ felt terrible for ruining his last birthday. Let’s face it! Stuck in a delayed train, with no reception and absolutely nothing to do is a pretty dull way to spend your birthday. I’m sure there were a million places he would have rather been that day, but he chose to be right there when I made a crazy, impulsive decision to go apply for a college that I would later turn down.

So this year, being the golden jubilee and all, I wanted to make it up to him for last year. See, Dad’s the kind of person who would go all out for any member of our family. Be it birthdays or wedding anniversaries or achievements, Dad has always made it a point to celebrate every milestone in our family.

It was high time we returned the favour; not because it’s the right thing to do, but because I believe that he deserves all the love in the world. I’m pretty sure everyone in our family thinks so too. So I decided that I would bring the entire family together to surprise Dad on his birthday.

I’d been planning this for a month or so, trying to get everybody to pencil in at least one or two days so that they could come over and surprise Dad. Fortunately, almost everybody thought this was a good idea and they decided to visit, because ‘It’s his birthday!’

I can tell you that it was every bit worth a whole month of secretly scheming, sneaking gifts in, almost letting the cat out of the bag and Dad getting suspicious when he finally saw the family come home, one by one, wide-eyed as if he couldn’t believe what was going on.

I’ll leave it to my Dad to decide how much the day really meant to him. Just two nights ago, he was telling my brother and me how he wasn’t really too excited about 50 trips around the Sun. But I’m pretty sure we got him pretty good with the family coming over because he kept saying that our home felt ‘festive’ after what feels like ages.

Everybody around me right now is laughing, the house feels like a home, the air is alive with joy and I don’t understand how this is even possible, but I can feel the love and warmth radiating in every corner of this apartment.

Here’s to Dad, for having a wonderful life, for never giving up on loving his family, and for always, always staying on the positive side of things. Happy 50th, Dad!

Yours truly,
Shubhs. Xx

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