The Birthday
Twenty years ago, we were invited to Keith Biever’s 65th birthday party. Joyce and I decided to make him a card that related toys to various times and events in his life. We shopped for toys, and I composed a little verse to go with them. I was asked to read it aloud at the party. It’s the kind of rhyme that begs to be read aloud.
Keith and the partygoers listened and chuckled appreciatively. I thought that was the end of it. The next time I visited K and K, there was that birthday greeting in the bathroom, framed, and displayed with the toys. It was still there the last time I looked. Maybe it’s time to bring it out of the bathroom and share it again. I’ve added a coda without toys for the 20 years since.
For Keith, in appreciation for sixty years of friendship and adventure. –DW
KEITH'S TOYS
On the great windy plains far east of Seattle
Keith was raised on a farm where they grew wheat and cattle*.
He rode off to school on the back of his horse
To soak up much knowledge and ace every course.
In Lincoln to Kathy he said with a shrug,
“Might as well head northwest in our Volkswagen Bug.”
They started as teachers of kids from the bus.
It was during that time that they met some of us.
Keith soon became known as a boater, a sailor,
Though some years the boat hardly gets off the trailer.
As a dozer and digger he had a cool rig
With plates on the truck that said simply, “We dig.”
Keith’s traveled the world from the Andes to Spain,
And helped many others to get the right plane.
When he snorkels on Maui to look for rare creatures,
He swims among fishes with comical features.
In his giant red wagon he sells real estate,
And occasionally takes Kathy out on a date.
As you can see, Keith has a whole bunch of toys,
And we hope he keeps playing with all he enjoys.
–Dave Wagar, April, 2001
*Italicized words denote the actual toys that came with the greeting.
Now Keith has retired, and he’s moved to the city,
Where he shares laughs with Kathy, who’s really quite witty.
He finds some new cousins on each of his trips
With his DNA tests always packed in his grips.
His fam’ly tree goes back to Adam and Eve,
But his new cousins interest him most, I believe.
Oh, wait! If we all trace our roots back to Eve’s,
On Cousin Keith’s tree — aren’t all of us leaves?
–Dave Wagar, September 2021
To view Dave Wagar’s previous post, THE THREE LITTLE PYGGS AND INSPECTOR WOLFE – click here
Love it!!
Funny, sentimental, lovely
Enjoyed this much. Obviously, Kathy isn’t the only one who is “really quite witty”!