1935

1. The Monopoly board game
2. The automatic parking meter
3. The major league night baseball game
4. The paperback book
5. Social Security
6. The Hoover Dam
7. My Pa

All of those things changed the world in pretty darn significant ways. All are still going strong today (with the possible exception of number five). All were born 75 years ago.

Yes, today Pa turned 75.

Can that be right?! He just doesn’t seem it. This is the same man who stops by my house nearly every Wednesday afternoon (and sometimes others) asking what he can do to help me. In the last year alone, he has painted my entire basement. Mowed my lawn. Planted dozens of hostas (from his own yard). Pulled zillions of dandelions (from the root of course). Cleared out my gutters. Assembled the trampoline. Cleaned up raw sewage in my basement.

Yeah, he’s kind of amazing.

See that book Pa’s holding in the picture up above? He’s held it tightly every day since.

Which is why this clipping from an old Swedish Bible reminded me of Pa today.

I don’t know if the Bible he held in that totally awesome black-and-white photo (is he not SO cute?) was written in Swedish, but I know that’s what Pa spoke at home in his growing-up years. At that time, his newly immigrated family was still adjusting to the language and his mother much preferred her native Swedish, so Pa learned English by true immersion at the local Chicago grade school and spoke whichever language his surroundings happened to call for at the moment.

He’s still pretty skilled at sensing what “language” his audience needs.

Hearing him read from and translate this Swedish passage today was sweet.

Really sweet.

And I’ll admit I was just a teensy bit proud because I managed to find exactly the verse I was looking for in that big, foreign Bible, without having a clue of the language.

It’s a passage about having a light for your path, and a lamp for your feet.

It implies a journey. A destination. And a guide.

It’s a verse that really sums up how Pa has lived his life.

Thanks for walking with me today, Pa, and all the days before today. Thanks for showing me where you get your light.

Happy 75th Birthday.