Lordy, Lordy...Look Who is 40!

I can't believe Richard is forty!  Maybe that is because he doesn't always act his age?  Yep.  I think that is it!  In all honesty, Richard is an amazing and loyal friend.  If you are truly his friend, he will stick by you no matter what and he will always have your back.  That is what made his birthday present even more fun to secretly put together than the birthday party itself!  Lets start with the party.  Since Richard loves being with his friends, it was an easy decision to have a party where he would be surrounded by all of his closest friends.  He also loves to have fun and make sure everyone else is having fun...that is where the entertainment came in!  I decided to go with a casino night theme.  We had 1 craps table, 2 blackjack tables and dealers brought in.  Everyone was given "funny money" to play with when they arrived.  When each person was ready to "cash in" their chips, they got tickets to put in drawings for prizes.  It was a lot of fun seeing everyone and catching up with those we hadn't seen in a while.  Before the night was over I gave Richard his birthday present.  For the month prior to his birthday I had contacted over forty of his friends (past and present), teachers, and mentors and had them send in a memory or birthday wish for Richard.  My goal was to get forty entries in his book.  I think I ended up with thirty-four...not too bad!  It was so neat to look back and laugh at old stories and see how Richard has impacted so many lives.  It was so hard to keep this secret as I had been on the phone with several of his friends and wanted to catch him up with what all was going on in their lives!  I think he was surprised and truly touched that people took the time to do this.  This birthday was fun, memorable and I am super exhausted!  Happy birthday, Richard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the cover to Richard's book and the entries from Matthew and Molly.  I had each of them tell me what they wanted to write and typed it up verbatim.  Love it!