Joe's Birthday Surprise Party - Sept 18, 2009 ----written by Joe Whitmire on September 19, 2009

Last night I got a great surprise – a Surprise Birthday Party at the Friday night jamming session with around 60-70 people present. We, especially me, had a great time! People brought food, drinks, birthday cards, and gifts. I still can’t believe it. My cousin, Fred Whitmire, went fishing to catch me some trout and gave me 5 really nice ones for my birthday. Among the gifts I received are some that you may see displayed in the cabin: a framed picture of the Chapman Bridge which was destroyed about 20 years ago, was given to me by Lewis Pace. You can see this picture displayed at the top of the stairs on the second floor of my cabin. And, Tabitha ordered me a bathroom set for my cabin that is too cute to use but you may see it displayed from time to time – the cowboy hat is the tank top cover, the body of the western sheriff with its star is the commode seat cover and the boots are the rug. I received several other gifts and many of the cards contained money. Thank you all for the gifts, your friendship, and for helping me to celebrate my 58th year!!

When I was a young man, an elderly man told me, “You can tell a man’s wealth not by his money but by how many friends he has”. I am definitely blessed! I have many friends – more than we could get into the cabin. I thank God for all of them!

My daughters, Tracy and Amy, put this together. Two of my three sons, Jerry and Adam (and Adam’s wife Tabitha) were also able to attend. My third son, Joey, lives in Georgia and was unable to get off work to be there. Tracy came up from Columbia and spent the night with Amy to be there. There were also 4 of my 11 grandchildren there – Tia, Levi, Jonathan and Caitlyn, my parents, Claude and Mildred, two of my brothers, Jimmy and Donnie, and my nephew, Douglas, were also present as well as some of my cousins. Amy made invitations that her friend, Cleon, secretly gave out at the cabin a couple weeks prior to the event. My mother and Ruby Reid also helped get the word out, all around me without me knowing it. They all helped make arrangements for everything. For this many people to keep this from me is amazing.

I’ve been reading and laughing at cards all morning.

I had a great time!! Thank you all for everything!!

Joe