Happy Birthday Dad

Today was my Dad's 75th birthday. We all met at his house for a party. A lot of people were bugged, but I made us all pose for pics.
My sister-in-law had this cake made.
My sister and I with Dad.
Without getting too maudlin, I need to pay tribute to him.
Here are some items of interest (i.e. for posterity):
Things always in his bathroom/dresser: Rolaids (original flavor), menthol cough drops, Chapstick (original flavor), antihistamines.
Things always in his car: bucket buddy full of tools
Fondest memories: resting my head on his tummy, playing backgammon after dinner, watching BYU basketball
My dad worked for IBM my whole life. He was a 9-5er. He wore suits to work every day. Seriously. Jacket and all. He suffered from year-round allergies and heartburn. He always smelled like a Rolaid or cough drop. He always carried real handkerchiefs in his pocket. He almost always kept a big Hershey bar in the fridge. He'd chip away at it during the week....
He could fix and/or build anything. We figured out the other day that he's built 9 basements between his house and all of ours. Every night after dinner he and I would play a game of backgammon, and then he would work on some kind of project. He built a 3 ft high rock wall around most of the property. My little brother and I went out in the hills by the "B" and collected rocks for it with him. He smoothed the concrete between the rocks with the back of a spoon. I wish I remember how long it took him to complete it.
He was a voracious reader. There was always the latest paperback on his nightstand. He made sure that we learned how to snow ski and we always had a boat. He worked hard and then rested hard.
After he retired he spent about half a year writing his autobiography. It is a work of art. He is a gifted writer and had amazing recall for dates and events.
This miserable disease (Parkinson's with Lewy Body Dementia) has robbed him of so much. I am so grateful that he took the time to document his life as he saw it...
Now that I've started this post, it's just too hard to sum up a life in a few sound bites. It'll probably only be interesting to my kids or other family who reads it. We all know that this guy is a man of incredible integrity, strong work ethic and unselfishly, wholly loves his family above all else. I know that everything he ever did was for us.