May your birthday be filled with smiles, good food, good drink, conversation and time spent with those you love!
I’m thinking of you today and the times of our lives we have 
shared and the times of our lives we haven’t shared. So, I’ve put this birthday card together, neither as a chronicle of your life nor as a celebration of your life. What it is safe and honest to say is we are “old men” whose lives have been shared in the most intimate of ways and have also been separated by thousands of miles and experiences unknown to each other. Unlike our Grandfather Jim, we cannot drive down to Conger, belly up to the counter, order a beer, and visit with an “old friend” about this and that while two little boys (us) wait impatiently in a booth near the bar. In lieu of that, I offer you a few words and images from our past, many of which lead to memories of our mutual interests and experiences.
Tim
THE LITTLE BOYS
I sometimes wonder how it happened that several years separate the “big boys” from 
the “little boys.” Did Mom and Dad plan it that way or . . well… Regardless, you and I are the “little boys.” We shared a bed; we did the dishes; we did “sneakments” down the stairs at parties; we played tug of war with Rook; we went to the same school . . .
WATERFALL CANNERY
We didn’t stay “little boys”. We grew to be “big boys” and 
just as they did, we worked on boats in Alaska out of Waterfall Cannery. I sometimes wonder whether my “real” education took place on a boat rather than going to college. What I know for sure is that I have far more memories of what happened during those years on the deck of a boat than I do of anything that happened in a classroom.
BASKETBALL
Remember playing pick-up basketball behind the boiler room at Waterfall? From the time we were “little boys” and 
Mom would make Dad take us to watch PLC play basketball, that round ball was big in our lives – still is. More inches of emails between us are about basketball than any other subject. When the Huskies were going through a bad stretch and things nationally were going south (as they usually are) and I was about to
give up on watching basketball on the tube, you wrote me, “You can’t do that. It’s all we have left!”
Well, “the little boys” are now “old men” and this birthday card will take a nano-second to reach you in North Carolina. I could go on about a variety of subjects and I might do that when your birthday rolls around next year. For now I will finish up with some pictures from travels Lorelie and I have enjoyed with you 
and Keith in your part of the world. The best part of those travels is the time we spend together and talk and talk and…
Yup, I’m guilty. Thought about your birthday last week, then got caught up in celebration of Susan’s birthday and coping with set backs in my convalescence from recent “medical magic” heart surgery to replace the aortic valve.
Marvelous collage of your life as meshed with Tim’s as seen in his mind through this memorialized nester posting. Find joy in the experiences the two of you have shared. Me thinks our brother is building a book – and me hankering to be be around to read it.
So here’s hoping you enjoyed a Happy 85th all year with more to follow.
Love from Bro. Dave and family
Wow! This is so special. I love everything about it. What a great birthday tribute! Happiest of Birthdays to sweet Jerry. You have enriched our lives in more than I could ever express. We love you! Kathy, Per-Ake and Kerstin 🙂
Tim, best birthday card i ever received!!!! A real gift. Have no idea where we got the word Sneakments. I remember visits to Conger on Fridays for the free show and one that was very enlightening. Given the peculiar Norwegian Lutheran social rules i thought were generally accepted, Iwas dumfounded to see the Lutheran pastor of German persuasion, round collar and all playing pool with a mug of beer in his hand. When I asked mom how this could be, she smiled and said, “we are different”. So, it was okay to be different. The photos brought to life a good deal of what we had the good fortune to share. Rap III is where i got over seasickness. Severin told me i was sick just like my brother Kenny and he would tell me the same thing. “You will either get over it here or die. One or the other”. While we were not there together, we each got the experience working and living with a remarkable man.
It has been my good luck to be with you as one of the little boys. A very comfortable place.
Jerry’s comments are under my name, but I feel sure everyone will figure it out. So…following are my comments which I’m not sure I can adequately convey in the given space here! This was truly a gift of all the creativity and love possible! As you know, I popped up in Jerry’s life in 1993, therefore, so many amazing experiences were made without me…go figure! What a joy to witness Jerry “embracing” his card that is filled with precious and enduring memories that he shared with you! Think I saw some moisture in his eyes! Hard to determine since, likewise, mine
too! It’s a fact…the Olson “little” and “big boys” are always able to convey the perfect twist, thought, description, meaning….I’m running out of words. Just know that you and Lorelie are the gift that keeps on giving!!! You have created and shared a treasure that I know Jerry will always cherish!!! THANK YOU for giving him such special joy!
I loved it too!Happy birthday Jerry