The Christmas season has always been associated with my dad’s birthday… December 22. He always said his birthday was no big deal when growing up because often he would just be handed one of his wrapped Christmas gifts early. His dad’s birthday was December 26, so Paul learned young that he and his dad would have their birthday celebrations wrapped into the Christmas festivities.
My dad, Paul Bixby (December 22, 1913 to December 14, 2012) lived a long productive life. His career in education ranged from teaching in a one room school in Minnesota to a high school principal in New Jersey to Assistant Dean of the College of Education at Penn State.
In his later years, after my mother died (1988) and his second wife died (2000), he was able to connect more with his kids, grandkids and great grandkids. For several years, his birthday became the time when we would host a birthday picnic in our shop for as many relatives who could travel to visit. A few pictures from his 95th birthday picnic prompted me to search for as many pictures as I could easily find of him with his kids, grandkids and a few great grandkids. They were good memories for me since it has now been 13 years since he died. How time flies!
So, if you’ll forgive me, here are some special memories for me this Christmas!
Paul with Luca.
Some of the party guests!
Paul with Erin and Jean:
Paul with Ben…who slept through it all.
Paul with Ben…a few years later.
Paul and Aislinn.
Paul and Annika.
Paul with Aislinn and Ted.
Front row: Kathy, Jean, Paul, Mary. Back row: Lita, Mark, Bert
Front row: Todd, Anh, Gabriel, Quinn, Parker, Pam, Ron. Back row: Teresa, Paul, Mark.
And last…but not least…Paul holding newborn Anna. He died about 6 weeks later. I’m so sorry he didn’t get to really meet her…she slept through it all!
So, this Christmas, we will be thinking about Paul on his birthday (Dec. 22)! He would have been 112 years old!