Breakfast celebrates miracles, friendship

In November 1998, Michael DePasquale opened Michael D’s Eatery at the east end of Coeur d’Alene. Among his first customers were Kiki Miller and Craig Owens and their 5-month-old son, Oskar.

And as the years passed it became a family tradition to celebrate Oskar’s June 14 birthday with breakfast at Michael D’s. Through Kinder Magic, Fernan Elementary, Cd’A Charter Academy, Lakes Middle School and Lake City High School until Oskar headed to New York City to attend Circle in the Square Theatre School, birthday breakfast at Michael D’s was a constant.

In 2021, Oskar is back home in Coeur d’Alene after the pandemic closed Broadway and all of the shows and opportunities for an aspiring actor/singer/musician making his way in the Big Apple. So it made sense to celebrate his 23rd birthday with biscuits and gravy, chicken fried steak and bacon and his parents.

But leading up to Oskar’s Flag Day birthday was an event that made simply having another birthday so sweet and miraculous. At the end of April, Oskar and his friend, Lucas Cervantes headed out on a long-planned motorcycle road trip to the Oregon coast. In the early evening, about 50 miles from their overnight stop of Astoria, the pair were driving on Highway 30 when an uninsured drunk driver blew through a stop sign right in front of them. Oskar, on the lead motorcycle, impacted the vehicle at a speed of about 55 miles per hour. Lucas was able to swerve out of the way. Oskar was launched into the air. If not for the protective gear he was wearing, including a helmet, this story may have had a much different ending.

He was fortunate that the people quickly on scene knew what to do and that in less than 30 minutes he was being airlifted to Portland’s OHSU trauma center. In the following days he underwent multiple surgeries for a shattered right wrist and to place plates in his left arm. Both of his ankles were sprained and he suffered multiple cuts requiring stitches. Miraculously he did not sustain any neurological or internal damage. A week in the hospital and then he was able to come home to Coeur d’Alene to continue to heal.

With both arms injured even simple tasks have required assistance, not to mention the unknown of Oskar eventually being able to play music on the piano and guitar.

So fast forward to the birthday breakfast … because he’s required assistance to eat due to limited ability to grip utensils, obviously dining out in public wasn’t something that he intended to do at this point. So a plan was hatched in order to celebrate with the traditional birthday breakfast at Michael D’s. Along with his parents and his girlfriend, Taylor Frank, a small group of friends joined Oskar in the private dining room at the restaurant. The deal was that no one could feed themselves, they were fed by the person sitting next to them. Damon, Brooke, Caid and Lincoln Wood, Lucas Cervantes, Tyler Wilhelm, Tyler Speron and yours truly embraced the show of solidarity for our friend. It was fun and light-hearted. Michael D himself popped in to wish Oskar a happy birthday.

It was good medicine for a young man still facing much rehabilitation and uncertainty to be reminded that he's surrounded by a large community of people who love him and will lift him up as he travels this road. I’m thinking that this birthday might have been Oskar’s best ever!

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Happy birthday today to Tim Shepperd, Jay Troy, Steve Smalley, Taylor Brockhoff (13!), Bill Dick, Desiree Barclift, Darick Pope, Brenda Gabriel, Frank Bybee, Stephen Parmentier, Shelly Cunnington, Richard Wegner and Rebecca Morelli. Tomorrow Raydeane Owens, Jim Foote, Susan Reilly, Vicky Houle, Jesse Bishop, Leigh Cossette, Jennifer Smith and Dana Scholwinski.

On Friday Jim Hammond, Wanda McLean, Katy Meeks and Sean Watson will celebrate. On Saturday Jim Morrison, Jake Capaul, Peggy Beebe, Jennifer Smock, Tess Schoultz, Kelly Gwinn, Doug Harwood (60!), Mel Swatzenberg, Paul Ivie, Genia Wortman, Lauren Hoffman, Sue Shibley, Bill Cope, Twyla Cope and Joey Flood add a candle to their birthday cake.

Happy first day of summer and Father’s Day birthdays on June 20 to Kristen Enders, Lynda Nutt, Christi Fleischman, Daniel Davis, Sherin Diehl, Mark Appleby and Eva Jones. Wayne Newby, Jaymee Paul, Lynda Pym, David Wold, Shirley Bade, Randy Watkins, Kelly Rice, L.C. Schell and Stephen Larson celebrate on Monday. Joe Butler, Nathan Walker, Lynne Hamm, Camille Lang, Ronda House, Jamie Johnson, Scott Shepperd, Mike Saunders, Bianca Olson and Caitlin Parmentier take another trip around the sun on Tuesday.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.