What do you get the man who has everything for his birthday? As Gerald Mills’ 104th birthday approached, Kevin Mills posed the same query as his father.
In the end, he chose a special present that his father had never received in all of his 103 birthdays. Mills posted a picture of his father and a request for 104 happy birthdays on Twitter.
According to Mills, who came up with the 104 wishes concept as a birthday present for his father, “Dad’s at an age where there’s nothing he wants or needs that can be bought with money.’
‘I figured something like a handful of congratulations from a few odd strangers would be a little different and entertaining,’ the author said. He continued, ‘He’ll be amazed and bewildered in equal measure’ regarding his 100-year-old father.
When Gerald’s birthday rolled around just over a week later, the tweet had amassed over 400,000 likes and 68,000 comments worth of birthday greetings, humorous comments, and heartfelt messages from all over the world. Mills had only expected maybe 10 replies, but Twitter did its thing and the tweet blew up.
A lot of individuals posted images of their own 100-year-old relatives. Happy birthday from my great-nana, who turned 105 the previous Saturday and is in excellent condition.
One individual jokingly remarked, ‘She’s single too [with two winking emojis]. Others responded to the tweet with images of their children, pets, and the nations from which they were sending birthday greetings, including South Africa, Switzerland, and Nigeria.
Initially, Mills believed he could print out the tweets to show his father by screen-capturing them.
Of course, the notion quickly turned out to be unworkable, he explains. On July 4th, the tweet surpassed ‘4th of July’ to become the third most popular trend in the US.
Even some celebrities took notice of it. ‘Happy birthday Mr. Mills,’ tweeted Henry Winkler along with the post.
And when Mills saw Mark Hamill’s tweet, ‘For Gerald: [birthday cake emoji],’ she wrote back, “Thank you! When I see him, I have SO much to explain.
How, then, did the man of the hour react to all of this interest? According to Mills, Gerald’s response to the outpouring of good wishes has been one of ‘astonishment and appreciation.’
Due to testing positive for COVID, he hasn’t been able to show his father the tweets in person yet, but he will as soon as he can.
To give him an idea of the scope of the worldwide response, Mills says, ‘I can’t wait to show him some of the tweets.’
It’s unclear whether my dad will have heard of any of the famous people who have wished him a happy birthday.
Along with birthday greetings, there were inquiries as to Gerald’s ‘secret’ to longevity. When I think of my dad, it’s most definitely not constant exercise, a vegetarian diet, avoiding alcohol, or never having smoked, claims Mills.
The century-old, who is still a resident of England, lived in Bournemouth for the majority of his life while also serving with an anti-tank regiment in Italy and North Africa.
After that, he worked for several years as a technical artist for nearby aircraft manufacturers.
He used this talent to teach painting in village halls and adult education facilities after retiring.
In addition to taking pleasure in life’s pleasures, the younger Mills says that his father attributed his longevity and good health to a few key elements, including ‘maintaining his independence, having a close and supportive family, an optimistic perspective, and an unfailing sense of humor.
He strives to find the humor in most situations, enjoys a good laugh, and is still young enough to engage in polite flirtation.
On July 12, Gerald celebrated his birthday in a straightforward, enjoyable way with a visit from one of his other sons and “cards, cake, a little wine, and a lot of laughs,’ in addition to having kilometers of nice tweets to read.