Happy 50th Birthday Papi!

guess what! Papi is 50!!

wait what? my Papi is 50? already? how?....

My Papi (dad to those who don't know him) was born on December 29, 1959. He married my momma in '83 and had me in '85, and Claire in '87. oh how time has flown since then!

My Papi is the best, anyone who knows him will agree. He is genuine, caring, hilarious, super fun, and a great friend, father, godfather, son, husband, brother, etc. He is always there for me and my sister, regardless of how much trouble we have gotten ourselves into. He always has our back when something goes wrong, even if it is our fault. We may get scolded, but we know he is doing that because he loves us.

Some people over the years have been afraid of him, understandably. He is tough. Real tough. He has pushed me and Claire to be the best since day one. We've each been grounded more times than we'd like to remember (we usually got out of it after a day or two - hah the power of tears), had our butts kicked by honors programs, and only went out once a weekend in HS if we were lucky...what nerds.

Without him and my mom, we wouldn't have been able to do so many things that we've been privileged to. Undergrad for me and both undergrad and grad for Claire (overachiever), many vacations, nice cars, ugh it's endless. Example - we have been to Cancun 25 times as a family. We bring our parents on Spring Break - HELL YEA!! Not many families have the same relationship we do. We are blessed to have a father like him
.

He always tells me that I am his best friend. And now that I am old enough to appreciate friendship in parents, I totally agree.

Happy 50th Birthday to my best friend, Papi! You deserve the very best day!

Cheers to many, many more!