Week Fifty: Patrick and Leigh

This week was Erica's birthday. We were scheduled to have my bassist and his girlfriend over, but we ended up getting a suprise date and dinner from Erica's Dad Patrick and his friend Leigh. Happy birthday to my lovely wife! And a special dinner cooked for us by Leigh.



Patrick is an extremely good father. He is a calm, kind and caring man. I have two very fond memories of him. First, the time I drove to his house to ask for his permission to marry his daughter. I called him up and told him we needed to talk. He said "okay" so I asked "Can we just do this over the phone?" He laughed and said no, so I drove over to Issaquah and spoke to him in the house Erica was raised in. He told me he could tell I loved her, and that was the most important thing to him. He knew I would treat her well.

Second, Patrick made an amazing speech at our rehersal dinner. When we began toasts, I was not expecting to get so teary-eyed. He is a soft-spoken man. He looked Erica directly in the eyes and told her very bluntly and openly that he loved her, and he appreciated her mannerisms and personality. It was very genuine and sweet. I think almost everybody there cried a little bit.



The promise I made to Patrick the ngiht I asked him for Erica's hand in marriage was that I would not steal her away from him. I am a family oriented person and I make a point to stay in touch with relatives. Sadly, I feel as though I have barely honored that promise. Erica and I only get to see him a few times a year, generally for dinners at his place in Lake Stevens. We have kept a steady tradition of two Thanksgiving and Christms dinners every year (one with him and one with my parents, Week 20). And we always sneak in a dinner for either his birthday or Erica's. We would like to see him more.

Dinners at Patrick's place are famous for Leigh's cooking. That is always the main attraction. So it was not only a pleasant surprise to see both of them at our house, but it was also very cool Leigh made food to prepare and serve us! Leigh made us, from scratch, a pork tourtiere. She is a Canadian citizen and that is what our neighbors up North call a good old fashion meat pie. And it was tasty! On the side we had a mixed greens salad with her homemade garlic citrus dressing.



Aside from a birthday dinner, Patrick's other present to Erica was working on things around our house. He is a talented handyman, and knows how to build and fix everything domestic. Leigh followed his pursuit around our home with a pen and pad and they made a list of things Patrick can do at Tune Castle. We cannot wait to have closet doors and a fixed gutter!



It's always great seeing family. And that's all we have left to round out the year! Next week my sister finally makes her grand enterance to the double dating game. Ain't no party like a Tune party, and we are packing a double! Can you count to... TWO?