Ten things I love about you

1. Somehow you managed to survive being the only boy planted in the middle of five sisters -- and you're still speaking to all of us!


2. You are the hardest working person I know.


3. You are passionate about your faith.


4. You are devoted to your family, always seeking their best.


5. You can walk into a room full of people standing awkwardly around, and within minutes you will have introduced yourself to each person and will have perfect strangers interacting most comfortably!


6. You are, and always have been, generous with your time, your talents - which are many - and your treasures. There have been so many people who have been blessed through your anonymous working in the background.


7. My Chev Cavalier: the Christmas Carswell deposited my paycheque in someone else's account and wouldn't pay me until they could reclaim the money from her -- and she was out of town! -- and I sold my Churchill books to pay for gas to come out to Youngstown in my beater car ... and you had this turquoise car waiting for me, bedecked with an enormous red bow. I still love my car ...


8. You believed in my dream and created the tea house. More than that, you continue to support it and encourage it and me.


9. You are so kind.


10. You never give up.

Happy Birthday, Allan Patrick Ironside!