Michael's 40th Birthday

Last night, I surprised Michael for his 40th birthday. He thought I was just taking him out on a "birthday date" as we had explained to Payton Joy. But he got much more than that! We parked our car and walked down 12th Avenue in The Gulch to what he thought was a new restaurant for dinner. But I escorted him to the front of Cantina Laredo where a black, stretch Hummer was parked. The driver opened the door, and all of our friends were inside and greeted him with "SURPRISE!!" He was definitely surprised!

It was a mobile version of This Is Your Life, Michael Ghaffari! I had programs printed for all to follow along as we drove to many important places along Michael's life from childhood to the present. We started at his childhood home where he (and his mom) lived with his granddad, "Pop", for most of his young life; then traveled to Shelby Park where he played baseball from tee-ball until he was 17 years old (and ready for a baseball career). We drove to his junior and high schools, his first job at Dairy Queen, his first apartment, ITT Tech (college), Vanderbilt University (job), and ended with the place where Michael and I first met. It was actually too much to fit into our limited limo time so we skipped a few places but Michael shared stories about all of it along the way. We were all quite famished by the time we returned to Cantina Laredo and thoroughly enjoyed the chips and different types of salsa they serve! We had a cake complete with black "40" candles and lots of laughs the whole night through!

I hope he knows how much we all love him and celebrate his LIFE...I definitely thank God for bringing him into MY life and look forward to spending the next half of his life right by his side! Happy Birthday, my love! You make 40 look good. :-)


For all the surprise party photos, click HERE.