By Ross Jackson
Every parent’s dream is to provide their children with a childhood better than their own.
New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson made that part of his goal for his daughter J’Adore Blessing’s first birthday celebration. Following the team’s open practice at Yulman Stadium on the campus of Tulane University, Johnson mentioned a special moment for his family.
“She had a great, great birthday party,” Johnson said while explaining that he dyed his hair orange so his one-year old daughter would have something to remember about dad. “More than I ever had for any of my birthday parties.”
The latter portion of that statement stood out and, upon further conversation, it was clear why. Johnson had not grown up having big, boisterous birthday celebrations. His birthdays were often intimate and family-oriented. That heightened Johnson’s excitement in throwing his daughter’s a big celebration. He had done it. He had provided something that he had not experienced himself as a kid.
“My birthdays were always pretty small and really intimate,” he said. “I had two brothers, so my brothers were with me, my mom and my dad. We just kind of went to Red Lobster and I was always hoping for one of (the servers) to sing happy birthday! I was always waiting for somebody like, ‘Oh when are they going to come? Or are they coming at the beginning or the end?’ I was always waiting for them to sing happy birthday to me. So those were always really fun.”
Johnson loved those memories with his family, sitting around the Red Lobster table for dinner. The happy birthday songs, whenever they showed up to sing, stuck with him. He clearly never takes those moments for granted. They are foundational. However, it was a special experience for him to provide something a little different.
“It was a ‘The Princess and the Frog’ theme,” Johnson recalled with a smile. “So that’s a little sentimental because that, me and Chanen (his wife), that was the first movie we watched. We met in college, and that happened, and then we came here to the Saints, and so it was here in New Orleans.”
The party was themed after the movie in one of the city’s most well-known dining establishments, Brennan’s. It was all there. The New Orleans vibe, a tiara and a themed vanilla cake with strawberry inside that she promptly plummeted her hand into.
It was a hit.
For Johnson, one of the most impactful parts of the evening was singing happy birthday. Redefining the song for all that understood his roots. With family members who were with him for his childhood family-restaurant celebrations in attendance, they sang again. But this time under very different circumstances. The Johnsons had successfully, and collectively, elevated previous birthday experiences for the sake of their daughter and their family.
“Singing happy birthday to my daughter,” he said. “I mean, it was so fun. It almost makes me emotional in some aspects. Because it was so fun to see her born. You know, me and my wife went through a lot of trials. So, for us, going from the trials to the blessing that we’ve seen at the end, it was really nice.”
