To Feel Special

I love to make the people I love feel special.

So they know they are loved and seen.

So they feel chosen.

And to bring extra light and joy into a world that too often makes people feel ordinary.

It was fun making my dad feel special.

He was very stoic—logical, steady, cool.

Not sentimental.

Not one for big displays.

But over the decades we worked together, there were moments—

quiet ones and public ones—

that I know let him feel how special he was to the whole community.

One of those moments was his 70th birthday.

It wasn’t just a birthday party.

It was a multi-day event we officially named

Bill’s 70th Birthday Bash.

We hosted a big community birthday party for him inside Tatsuda’s, complete with specialty T-shirts and buttons.

My sister did the design—

she photoshopped a photo of him from 1972 and another from around 2017 onto the front. Birthday hats on both versions of him.

And underneath, the tagline:

“70 is the new… what was I saying?”

It was hilarious.

I enlisted the entire Tatsuda’s team.

We invited the community through radio ads.

We handed out free cake and Diet Coke.

He attended the party wearing a post-it note that said:

"I'm not dead yet."

That was exactly my dad's sense of humor.

And we made him think it was a surprise party.

Even though absolutely nothing about it was a surprise.

That was intentional—because we didn’t want him catching on to the real surprise planned for the next day.

For the real surprise, we had an invite-only dinner for him at Diaz Café—his favorite pre-fishing-trip restaurant. The guest list was carefully chosen. The menu hand-picked.

We got him to take my kids for a walk downtown, and they gently lured him toward the café. He was confused—because he was certain they were closed.

When he opened the door and the room erupted with “Happy Birthday,” it took him a moment to understand what had just happened.

That night, he ate well.

He socialized.

He listened and sang along to music from some of his favorite local musicians.

And for a few beautiful hours, he felt like a king.

I miss making my dad feel special and loved.

We did so many wonderful things together.

Happy birthday, Dad.

I love you.

I hope you know how special you are.