I’ll leave you to guess which decade birthday it was.
Here is the octogenarian herself, posing with which what I think was a rather marvelous chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
We got Chinese food from Yen’s Chinese Restaurant, a family staple since the 80s, and then the birthday girl opened presents and we ate cake.
Chris and I were reminiscing about our grandfather’s 80th birthday, celebrated in 1988. We both remember exactly where the restaurant was (the Shilo Inn in Beaverton—a place we both think of as “Grandpa’s 80th birthday dinner” every time we drive by). I remember getting to skip school to attend the birthday celebration. Skipping school was a rarity with both parents being teachers.
Chris remembered more than I did. That the family with four children who lived next door to my grandparents were there. And that my grandpa gave a speech that began, “I can’t believe I’m 80. When people ask me, ‘Do you feel 80?’ I say, ‘No, I feel 90.'”
My mother remembered that one of my great aunts felt the chef should have cooked the vegetables more, because older people preferred a softer vegetable.
Neither of my aunts had any memory of this event, probably because they didn’t get to skip school to attend.