Grampa Ceritelli's Surpise Birthday Party

At the beginning of April we had a surprise birthday party for my dad at my parent's house. My sister and Mom were able to sneak in a lot of planning without him knowing. We figured he would not be expecting anything since we had already had a small get-together. My sister did a collection of old photographs of my dad from the various decades that were blown up to poster size. She also made a video showcasing even more photos from years past.

The big surprise, however, was that a lot of friends and neighbors from years past that had been living out of town(or even out of state) stopped by for the party. My dad had not seen some of them in years, and was completely shocked to see them. It was a blast, and it was great seeing my Dad so surprised and excited.








Above is Rodney Gullo talking to family friend Carolyn Drake. Rodney and his wife Sandy lived down the street from us in Woodland Hills when I was in elementary school. I used to play with their son Randy when I was that age.
In the center of the picture above is Jim Bellantoni, who was my Dad's department head back when he taught at Stanford High School, flew in from Connecticut. Wit Drake is on the far right, with Bob Davies to his left. Bob came in early with his wife Kathy(on the far left, talking with Steve Salemi) and surprised my Dad on the golf course the day of the party. Bob taught with Dad in the math department at Stanford High School.
Above is Sandy Gullo talking with Kelly and Kara.
Above on the right is my dad's former secretary at Kingwood High School, Donna Belger. To her left is Nancy Salemi, who was another former neighbor from when we lived in Woodland Hills. She came into town from Austin with her husband Steve.
Above is Andy Wells, who was Head Principal(and my principal) when my Dad was Assistant Principal at Kingwood High School.




Above on the right is a better picture of Steve Salemi.






Above is everyone watching the slideshow video my sister did on the TV and also on her computer on the table behind the couch. It was very well done and my Dad got a real kick out of it.




I want to thank my mom and sister for putting this together for my Dad. He really enjoyed it, and it was a complete surprise!