“When the power of Love overcomes the love of Power, the world will know pizza.”
—Jimi Hendrix
I was all dressed in my blue jeans and blue pullover sweater when Cecile reminded me, “Den,
Gerry asked we dress in pink and black.” Hmmm!" I thought, "do i even own anything pink?" Surprisingly, I had a brand new silk hot pink tie on my tie rack that I never wore. Our daughter Michelle had arrived from San Mateo earlier in the day with our granddaughter Lyla who is just over 2 months old. What a treat to have her party with us. We planned to meet our son in law Kyle at Gerry’s and his dad Ed at their home to celebrate Gerry’s 60 birthday with over 70 of their friends and family members. We were delighted and honored to be invited. It was festive and so much fun. Ed and several other volunteers had a canopy covered wine bar set up in the back yard to serve guests and to protect us all from the rain. To my surprise and utter delight the caterer had a portable pizza oven set up to the left of the bar. A variety of thin crust pizza was being baked and served along with platters of cheese, veggies, bite-size meatballs, and other goodies. The night flew by, we all sang Happy Birthday to Gerry, candles were lit atop of muffins and blown out, and Ed and several friends and family members sung the praises of the birthday girl. Gerry is the youngest of five sisters. I was especially moved when two of them, Mary and Anne said she is the one they turn too when they find themselves in a jam.
Gerry is kind and fun loving and we took a liking to her when we first met her sometime before Kyle and Michelle got married.
When it was time for her to speak, she thanked everybody for coming and added she can’t believe she is 60 years old. Of course, she chose more colorful words to let us know how she really felt but since this is a family oriented post I won’t go there:-). “All kidding aside Gerry, I felt the same way as you when I turned 60 over eight years ago, so I thought I would end with one of my favorite wisdom quotes from Richard Gere to bring it all in perspective.”
He said: “ I am old but I am forever young at heart. We are always the same age inside. Know that you are the perfect age. Each year is special and precious, you can only live it once. Do not regret growing older, it’s a privilege denied to many.”
Thanks again for inviting us to your lovely home to celebrate with you and Ed, your friends and family. We wish you many more Happy and Healthy Birthdays to come. Peace, hugs and many more blessings to come.
Note: The photo of a Pizza shaped like the map of Italy is from the Italian & Proud Community website shared on Facebook by my childhood friend Jerry Gustoso, a hair stylist from my hometown of Hoboken, NJ where I once worked part-time delivering pizza at La Scalinata’s Pizza when I was in my teens.
