A Special Birthday Celebration

Today is a very special birthday – one we certainly would celebrate in a very different way if we had the chance. Our son-in-law would have been thirty-five years old today! While it will not be an easy day for our daughter and her three young children, my sweetheart and I are going to join them on an excursion of celebration. A celebration of the fun times they had with their dad and of the life he lived and enjoyed so much. We are off to the zoo today! Not just any zoo – the Oregon Zoo in Portland. Just about the time most commuters arrive at work we will board a brand new commuter train just a few miles from our daughter’s home and have the ride of our lives as we see the world around us from the comfort of the train. After a transfer to another commuter train we will arrive at the zoo not long after the animals have had their breakfast. We don’t know how long we will stay but each of us has hopes to see something special and we will try to see it all!

Our zoo is famous for its elephant breeding program. When I was still very young world-famous Packy was born and captured the hearts of us all. He will be there today and many of his children, too. We hope to see the newest baby and his mother.

I always enjoy the penguins and I know the children can’t wait to see the monkeys.

We will take our time and we may ride the zoo train while we are there. For sure we will get hungry and there are so many places to eat that we may have trouble choosing the perfect place to enjoy lunch!

No matter what we see and do we will certainly wish our dear one could be there with us. He would have loved it – that’s why we chose to go to the zoo together on his special day.

Photos courtesy of Oregon Zoo