Last night, a group of extremely thoughtful, caring, and loving group of friends threw me a surprise birthday party. Yes, a surprise birthday party…
My birthday was February 20th, so roughly (precisely haha) 36 days ago. I remember having beef jerky and water for my birthday dinner in my room here thinking to myself, “I don’t think this is going to crack the top ten list for best birthdays of all time, but I am in Africa, so it might haha!”
But little did I know…
They threw me a Star Wars themed party! We had “Yoda Soda”, “Vader-ade”, “Wookiee Cookies”, “Luke SkyWater”, a Chewbacca piñata. And to top it off, a Darth Vader cake, I didn’t even know that was possible in Gulu…
It was unbelievable. We had some fly Jedi Masters and surprisingly friendly Sith Lords show up. An adorable Ewok decided to bless us with her presence. A few beautiful Princess Leias’ made lovely appearances. And come to my surprise, if you get the rare chance to see Storm Troopers with their helmets off, I highly suggest taking a second gander cause they are pretty beautiful as well! Haha
It really was an amazing night though. The people of this community, actually nah, I’m not going to say community, I’m going to say the people of this family we have here in Gulu (shouts out to Kitgum too haha) are the best. They set aside time from their personal lives and other important work to put together something so sweet, kind, and special. That’s what families do, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the people I have here. I wish I knew a better way to display my appreciation, but I really have no words or actions for how happy you all have made me feel. Thank you to everyone involved and May the Force Be With You!
Also great work on the group photo haha
Schuganda 
You deserve it Patrick – congratulations! From Uncle Earl and Aunt Judy
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What a great birthday surprise for you..so happy for you Patrick! Enjoy every day. Love reading your posts…sending you lots of 💘 your way! Nancy and Rich
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“I am one with the force, the force is with me!!” The force is all around you…it’ll always find you if you let it!❤❤
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Hello Patrick:
It is wonderful that you are surrounded by such warm, thoughtful people in your very far away new home! It’s amazing to see the wonderful surprise they gave you for your birthday; looks like you had a ball! I just have to say how proud I am in what you are doing. It takes a special person to move to the other side of the world to start a new life. Oh; and by the way I am Jeff’s auntie, I know I’ve met you but it has been awhile & I am so excited to follow your blog. We are all looking forward to the big Mettler family reunion in Watertown in June.
Take care & God bless you!
Aunt Karen
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Definitely made up for the beef jerky and water =)
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