Happy Birthday Michael

Monday September 8th is Michael's 60th birthday. While everyone may tease him the day will come when we will all be 60. By today's standards it is actually very young, and quite honestly Michael can work rings around many people much younger than he is. When you think in terms of I have lived with him for more than half his life it doesn't seem old at all. Sometimes I don't think I can remember not living with him. He is one of the few people who has known me for so long and who has known me at my best and my worst, yet still accepts me as I am. He will do anything for me and asks for very little in return. He is honest and a hard worker, and goes out of his way to make people happy. When I can think of a hundred reasons why something is going to fail he can tell me why I'm wrong. While I look at the glass half empty he looks at it more than half full. When Michael and I were dating my mother was so impressed with him--he held the door for me and assisted me into the car. He was polite no matter what--and my dad was not always the kindest to him. After all, I was my dad's little girl, and I was marrying a SAILOR--OH MY GOD!!!!! My mother said Mike treated me like I was made of glass and would break if he was not careful. He has been a great husband and father, his family being the most important thing in his life. After spending thirty years in the Navy and earning a good retirement that still has not been enough, and he continues to work. He is a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather and much more. Laugh as much as you want, and call him old as much as you want, but you should all have someone in your life like Mike. All of you should be so lucky. Happy birthday Michael, and may you have many, many more. Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be.

I don't have many pictures of Michael when he was little. This was taken in his
mother's house, obviously at Christmas. One day I will have to get his mother to let me get copies of whatever pictures she has of him.

This was early in his Naval career. Don't you think he had to have lied about his age? He looks all of 15!

I don't know what they were looking at, but this is a picture of Michael when he was on the USS Tattnall. Mike was a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy, and an Independent Duty Corpsman. He was the senior medical personnel on the ship, with one other junior corpsman. The man on his left is Captain Tobin, the CO of the Tattnall.

This is a picture taken in sick bay on the Tattnall. Mike retired from the Navy as a Master Chief. He went to Tattnall as the junior chief, and made senior chief while aboard. He was the only one of the chiefs who made senior chief that year.

Now, this is a picture taken toward the end of his career. He was stationed with the Marines in Okinawa. Look at all that gold on his arm! You needed sunglasses to look at him.

This was a very important time for Michael. The birth of his first grandchild, Clara Elizabeth Stein. Clara was born early and had to stay in the hospital for several weeks. We went a time or two to feed her while she was there to give our daughter and son-in-law a little break.

And this is Mike, Clara and Victoria. Victoria is probably going to have a fit--I don't know why she has her eyes closed, but this was taken the day after Clara's birth, and Victoria was not at her best yet.

Victoria's husband is Christopher, and he also is in the Navy. I actually stole this picture off Victoria's Blog.

We have a son, also named Christopher. This is Chris and his wife, Nikki. She is in the Air Force.

And last, but not least, this is Michael and our grandson, Jonathan Michael Stein. Jonathan is named after both his grandfathers, and I know Mike was extremely touched by this.