Happy Birthday, John!

Dear Hearts,

January 8 is the birthday of John Vincent Sullivan, son of Jim and Mary Claire, brother of Jim, Mary Fran, Mike, Matt, Anne, Jerry, Margaret and Patty, husband of Nancy, father of Mike, Lindsey, Matt and Maggie, grandfather of Evangeline and Violet, and uncle, cousin and friend to so many more.

As the Public Policy Counsel at Google in Washington D.C., John says he is one of just a few employees who wears a suit to work. Old habits die hard after decades of service at our nation's capitol--first as counsel to the Armed Services Committee, then as a deputy Parliamentarian, and finally the Parliamentarian. When he retired in 2012 (for about a minute and a half), most of us celebrated that milestone with him in D.C. Particularly wonderful was witnessing many Representatives offer their thanks to John while in session, making their statements about our brother a part of the Constitutional Record.

The words of Mr. Hoyer of Maryland are true not only in John's professional capacity, but also in his role in our family: "Many of us are better Members of this House because of John's counsel through the years, and this House is certainly a better place for his service."

John has always held family in high regard and today he gobbles up every chance he gets to spend time with his granddaughters. His grandpa name is Heepa. Big Sully called him Duke.

While his vertical leap may not be what he'd like, he's still a natural athlete and stat geek. I love that a conversation with John can, and usually does, include topics like chocolate, MLB players' styles or stats, the wonders of grand parenting, grammar, music, etc. in 2009, I visited John in the capitol with Andrew's eighth grade class. We were in the back of the main seating area of the House listening attentively to a representative speak. John excused himself for a minute. I thought, "Ooh, something important must've come up." He returned a few minutes later and handed me an env
elope full of Whoppers. To me he is a rock star and a regular guy all at once.

Happy Birthday, John, and may you have 57 more healthy ones, by the Aunt Joannie Sullivan Law of Longevity Anticipation of 2008.

God bless us and save us and keep us from harm.

Love, Patty

Priceless memory from Jim:

Mike and John and I played a game with a ball and a bat up against the garage wall for, probably, 1200 hours, where we rotated hitting, fielding, etc. We pretended to be the actual guys in the lineup. Mike gets up, and he's Felix Mantilla, Braves' shortstop. We're playing the Sullivan Brothers Imaginary World Series between Milwaukee and the White Sox. John is about 8, but already a lawyer. He

says Mike cannot be Felix the shortstop, because Mike is left-handed, and there are no major league lefty shortstops. The game is going to get called if we don't resolve this. John will not tolerate the breach of the integrity of this religion of ours. Mike and I exchange a glance in which I silently pleaded to Mike to back me up in the whopper lie I concocted to keep the game going. I said, "John- it's ok. There is an example for this. Warren Spahn, the great lefty pitcher (who was a buddy of our grandfather, Lefty), was such a good athlete that when Felix Mantilla was injured, the Braves put Spahn at short." Mike says, not missing a beat, "Yeah, that's right, John. It's ok."

John thought this over, and said ok, withdrawing his veto. The game went on. This was in about 1959.

In about 1999, Warren Spahn comes through the House and is greeted by the Parliamentarian, one John V. Sullivan, who asks him some direct questions. About a week later, I get a note, on House letterhead, with Warren Spahn's autograph on a separate sheet and the note's simple words, "To my dear friend John, Tell your brother he's full of it. Best Wishes, Warren." Busted. 40 years later!