It has been such a splendid day filled with cheese/champagne at midnight (we celebrated into his birthday in a good old German style... just with two of us in the living room:), Roo waking up before sunrise with anticipation of making "papa's birthday party" super special, homemade marzipan cake for breakfast, dreaming how my birthday gift to him would live with us for next 40 years, me watching Roo and him gardening for hours and quiet naps for everyone.
These last few years... seeing a cake with a missing piece in mid-day has become our happiness... because it symbolizes how we enjoyed the missing part of the cake together in the morning... and we talked extensively about how it is so different from how life looked 10 years ago.
Happiness looks and feels different from one person to another... and realizing that we both independently thought that sharing, witnessing and nurturing the growing family has been the best birthday gift... makes me melt.
I am thankful for the last four decades of his life... of what makes him who he is today... an amazing leader and mentor in classrooms, a vigorous designer, the most productive person I have known in my life, a committed friend to a circle of his community..., a caring son even with the distance, the most patient, tender and loving father I could ever ask for our daughter and an inspiring partner I wish to build our lives together for many many years to come.
Happy birthday, Frido! We love you:)
xoxo
-wakako
