When my father was about to turn 73 my brother and sister-in-law had the idea to throw him a surprise party. It was a little bit last minute and we talked about waiting until the next year in order to have more time to plan things but in the end we went ahead with the party.
This picture was made seconds after Daddy rounded the side of my brother's house and saw everyone in the backyard. He thought he was going to the annual immediate family birthday party that we always had for him and my nephew whose birthday is a few days after his. The cars that would have given away the surprise were hidden on the other side of the house so he really had no clue anything different was going on until he saw the crowd.
Over 50 people attended including his five sisters who all traveled 200 miles to get there. (There had been 11 children in their family but by 1999 only six of them were living.) There were several nieces and nephews and, of course, his 4 children and 7 grandchildren.
The party was a huge success. I will be forever grateful that we didn't "wait until next year" because next year did not come for Daddy. He would have been 85 today.
David Hankins McCauley
12 Jul 1926 - 16 Jun 2000
