My Dad is a septuagenarian!

As far as the Jersey Shore goes, I had the best seat in the house this weekend. Thanks to 15 people, a few gifts, one private ocean-view dining room, and a ton of love.

The weather was beautiful, the beach was pristine, and the ocean was rocking. I spent quality time there with my mom and dad, my sister and her daughter, and my girlfriend.

We celebrated my father’s 70^th birthday Saturday night at The Breakers in Spring Lake, NJ. Kind of a posh place, right on the beach. My mom and I worked on the party for three months to make it go off without a hitch. But it was Lynn, my girlfriend, who stepped in to make it a true celebration.

Lynn and I have been dating for almost six months. Not a long time, but enough time to love each other. She sensed me stressing about making my dad’s 70^th a true celebration, and she knew I was struggling.

My dad’s favorite baseball team is the NY Mets. They opened up a new stadium, Citi Field, last year. As part of the opening, they offered – this is weird – bricks for sale. Pavement bricks that buyers could have engraved with personal messages. I thought it was kind of cool, but too expensive. Then dad’s 70^th started coming up and suddenly the price (in my head) was less pricey and the gift more meaningful. Nothing is too expensive for the man who raised me, taught me how to hit, taught me how to write, and taught me how to chill out. I dished out 400 bucks and bought him a brick. Engraved with a loving message from my mom, my sisters, and me.

But how would we get him there to see the brick (even though they kindly sent us a replica) AND get him awesome seats for a game? That’s where Lynn came in.

My father never really got great seats for a game. I used to get good seats many years back, but it was only because I was a sports writer, and more recently because I worked for a prominent ad agency. I’ve been to many games with him, but they were mostly upper deck or outfield seats. I wanted this game to be special, even if the Mets aren’t.

Lynn got us tickets 4^th row, field level, behind the Mets dugout.

This will be the closest to the field he’s ever been since he played second base in college. Or watched me in little league.

Lynn is a saint. She hadn’t met my father before she bought the tickets. She hadn’t met either my father or mother before the party. But they clicked. And now I’m going on a double date with Lynn and my mom, and my AWESOME dad, to a Met game in a couple of weeks from now.

This time, finally, he’ll have the best seat in the house.