Some 93 year olds might stay home and take it easy on their birthday. Not Don Hawkins. For him, today was just like any other day…

He began his morning as you might expect — checking his Facebook. In addition to the usual “likes” and “shares,” he had lots of birthday wishes from family, friends, and members of the Kiwanis.

Then, he headed off to the elementary school for an appointment. Of course he walked there, even though it’s about a mile from his house.

He was expecting to talk with the third graders about the oak savanna, but they had other plans. They surprised him with a cake, candles, a rousing rendition of happy birthday, and teacher Deb Molle presented him with a card signed by each student.

It was a brief party, because Don had a meeting with the school superintendent and others about how to more fully integrate the oak savannas into the school curriculum.

On the way back home, Don stopped off to see his friends at Sandstone Nursery, where he buys native plants for his many projects. The Sandstone crew surprised Don with birthday wishes on their sign. We couldn’t agree more with the sentiment.

So for Don it was just another day — in a very full life. Happy Birthday Mr. Hawkins!

– Contributed by Don Hay