Happy 72nd Birthday Papa!

A great meal at Cafe Mellise is a nice change from the usual sit-down-10-course-Chinese-dinner that my father prefers. I was given the honour to say Grace for the night, and we joined hands to thank the Lord for blessing Papa throughout the years, and to continue blessing him throughout the many years to his ripe old age. Then a prayer for all our family members and all that we love. After 'Amen', everyone turned to their food in silence and lapped the plates clean, before we began yacking again over glasses of white wine and black forest cake. Yes, a bottle of white was what we opened for the celebration, together with a hefty helping each of the Black Forest cake that I specially ordered for the occassion ended the night!

You can see how happy Papa is in the picture! Anyway, Papa, I've written you couplets:

As a family we celebrate today,
Papa, we welcome your 72nd birthday;
Happy, happy birthday to you and more,
Papa, our unceasing prayers are as before;
In your smile, we can see very few wrinkles,
Papa, giving your cheeks a set of dimpled crinkles;
Your beloved children, you can see,
Papa, God's blessings to you are not wee;
Blessings from God we have received,
Papa, Life to the fullest you have conceived!
Your faith in God we inherited,
Papa, our lives are blessed and merited;
Traditions and culture you taught us,
Papa, we struggled to abide without any fuss;
Our highest respect for you is here to stay,
Papa, our dedication and loyalty will never sway;
In 72 years of life you have seen,
Papa, you must understand where we've been;
Our love and affection for you is so real,
Papa, we know it matters to you a great deal;
Faults that we children may have,
Papa, still perfection from us you crave;
Your children are humans also,
Papa, no matter what, we will always love you so!