There’s so much more to these baskets of fruit than you can see in this photo.

You see, I have this sister, well, I have three of them actually, and a brother but this photo is because of one of my sisters but to tell you about her I have to explain that yesterday was my father’s birthday…

It was a special one as he (and his twin sister) turned 75. His children budgeted, planned, worked together and each of us took on a task to make the party happen — and a good time was had by all! Hahaha! That’s the short version so I can tell you about my sister, Cheryl, and her decorations. She wanted to take on the task of not only decorating but making all the decorations. I have no idea how many hours she spent, but when she showed me the salad bowl and told me she spent eight hours decorating (just it) I believe I said, “I would be buried with that bowl!” Hahahaha! She went with a country theme (as you might have guessed by the fruit baskets). She also had little serving dishes and baskets and trays and signs and banners and, and honest to goodness…

It is her art. She loves doing it (obviously) but it was a gift of love, and I just hope she knows how much I, we, appreciated it. Thank you, Cheryl, everything was beautiful — we all loved it!

A brother in law and sister in law volunteered to man the grill (on a very hot Florida afternoon) — THANK YOU! Parents and young ones watched over and swam with wee ones, some that used to be the young ones but now can be the ones catching and releasing in the lake with their young ones. The ones visiting from college and, thankfully, also doing all the heavy lifting, and my favorite part, the stories, and laughter that were shared around the table, around the pool, around the patio and just around. Dad and his sister each blew out a set of candles that read “75” because my son said, “They’re twins, but they’re still individuals.” ( I like that about him.) And they did it surrounded by a family that loves them. 💛

“It don’t get no better than this.” – Dad ☺️