For his 70th, I took my father up on a B-17 flight, despite his acrophobia. What his uncle flew in the war.
It was also a selfish gift.
[That went over well.]
Pops got a giant card made from foam poster board, using a grandiose life re-enactment of his life history with picture cut-outs from magazines.
It had quite a bit of humerus razz to it.
For example:
"X was born in a quiet small town" (baby screaming)(droopy parents)(crowded street)(pic of superman)
"As a child he was the most well mannered."(kids doing something wild or naughty)
"He was always the best student in class"(kid sleeping)
etc. you get the idea.
[That went over well.]
Pops also got a very small cake with 70 candles.
Yes our family is weird.
[That didn't go over so well, at first.]
Maybe pic his wife's brain for the quiet ideas:
What did he like? Artists? Collectables?
What did he talk about doing, but never did?
What does he complain about and how can it be fixed?
Who would he want to see? Old friends? A special type of place? A celebrity?
Soothing personal gift? Spa treatment? Massage chair?
Most of the stuff he probably liked in his youth we've probably never heard of.