Dad's Retirement, Thanksgiving, Family, a Wedding, and more!
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My dad turned 70 on November 17, 2015, and he also decided to retire from his job as a long-term care pharmacy manager in late November, 2015. We didn't think the day that my dad would not go to work every day (let alone be on call over the weekends) would ever arrive. Some of the people he worked with for roughly 20 years decided to kick off the retirement celebrations by surprising my dad with a dinner at Santorini's. They shared memories of my dad as their manager, funny stories about what had happened to them over the years, and most importantly, thanked him for being such a positive force in their lives. It was really special. You can see some of the video from that evening by watching the birthday/retirement tribute we made for my dad at: https://youtu.be/uTnNrz8y6AA or some may be able to access it below.
Here are some photos from the evening at Santorini's.
Johanna and Dad
Rob, Selena, and Dad
The original crew, including Levi, Cliff, Hong, Hong's mom, Selena, Rob, and Johanna
We celebrated Thanksgiving with Aunt Kate and Uncle Scott and his parents before heading downtown to the JW Marriott for our family reunion/Thanksgiving/dad's birthday and retirement celebration. We went on to celebrate Thanksgiving at Buca di Beppo's because so many members of dad's family came into town for the long weekend of celebrations.
At Aunt Kate and Uncle Scott's house
Checking in to the suites that are part of the JW Marriott complex
Cousins at Buca di Beppo's
Dad, his sister Kathy, Linda and Les Stewart
Larry, Meg, Kathleen, mom, Peggy, and Kathleen's husband
John, Sandy, Jim, Kate, and Dave
David Rogers, Stacy, Sarah, Lindsey, and Amanda
Ironically, Alan and I had our own table.
More fun with cousins
Everyone except Jack
After dinner, we went swimming at the hotel pool, which is always a delight for the girls. It was especially fun this year because we had older cousins to keep us company in the water!
On Friday evening, the big event of the weekend, Dad's retirement party, happened. It turned out to be a great night (for which I am thankful since I led on the planning of the event), and the video tribute I mentioned earlier in the post was a big hit too. There were a number of special moments that included friends from church singing an Irish blessing to dad and dad handing over some of his dad's pharmacy memorabilia to the newest pharmacist in the Luken family, Stacy Rogers.
Cousins again
Dad with the Rogers siblings
Moira as the night got later and later
My girls
Checking out the rainy celebration of lighting the "tree"
Glad we had someplace warm to go and that we could step outside for just a minute!
All of the Luken siblings--John, Larry, Mary Jane, Peggy, Michael, Kathy, Dad
Dad and Mom with all of the grandparents
Our extended family
Love this one of Larry and Meg right before they left
On Saturday evening, we celebrated another special occasion. My godmother, Prov, married her long-time partner, Carolyn, in a small ceremony at a family member's house. It was a really special occasion because these two ladies have spent a long time fighting for the right to love whomever they want and to be treated equally. I am glad this day arrived and that my girls will grow up thinking that Love is what is most important in the world, and people have the right to chose whomever they want to love.
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