I was 8 years old and I loved pirates.

I read fiction books about pirates, I had historical books on pirates, I had pirate figurines and I loved the Treasure Island movies.

My birthday was coming up and I noticed my dad had been pretty busy after work for the last few weeks. Normally we would hang out, play games together or he would tell me stories. But leading up to my birthday he seemed to be spending longs hours in the garage. I would hear the sound of saws and sanders running late in to the night. I asked him what he was working on and he deflected somehow. I was young and didn’t think much of it.

Then on the day of my birthday, I walked to the top of my staircase and my jaw dropped. In the middle of our large living room was a pirate ship. Nearly fifteen feet long, with a wooden hull, a full wooden spoked steering wheel…

Then from around the corner about ten of my friends jumped out, all in pirate garb. My parents brought me a cutlass, a pistol and a pirate costume.

We got a treasure map and searched for gold (they had spray painted golden rocks) and then had sword fights.

The pirate ship even had a plank we could make people walk!

Definitely an incredible and memorable birthday/gift.