A Birthday Present

Facebook reminded me today that it is my friend's birthday.  I'll admit, I forgot.  Heck, I already forgot my mother in law's birthday last month, so I'm not doing too well on the birthday front.  But at least my friend is on Facebook so that I can get a friendly reminder about birthdays and at least post a quick "Happy Birthday" on a page.

But for this particular friend, that's not enough.

I haven't physically seen her in at least 20 years (although she can correct me if I'm wrong on that front).  We didn't even get to know each other until the middle of our junior year of high school when she and her family moved back to town.  (Her family lived on the opposite side of town than my family which meant we wouldn't have met up in elementary school either.)  If my fading memory is correct, we met when she joined the drama department's spring musical production.  (If you could call it a "department.")  It was during those long boring periods off stage that we bonded.

In those days before the Internet, there wasn't much to do but be silly.  We came up with plenty of silly things to do!  Both of us had an "off beat" sense of humor which tied us together.  We quickly became best friends.

Too soon we both moved on to college and "real" life.  Again, this was in the days before the internet, texting and cell phones.  (My apologies friend, I'm showing the world how old we really are.)  We kept sporadically in touch.  She married; it was the first "friend" wedding I attended.  She and her husband moved around a lot (that's what you get for marrying someone in the military), but again we kept in touch as best we could.  We didn't talk much, or even write much, but it didn't matter.  We were tied together by our memories of the ridiculous.

We are still many miles apart, but thanks to technology we do talk (although not as much as I think both of us would like).  We email and we Facebook.  Even after all of these years, one word or phrase can send both of us into unstoppable giggles.  (How many people do you know who did a puppet show with a cockroach as the leading "man" for their high school English final?)

In the scope of years, we might not have spent that much time together, but she will always be imprinted on my heart.  If I need to laugh, I can just call her.  (That is if she hasn't broken her cell phone again!)  I hope that she knows that I am always here for her (even if it's not physically) whenever she needs me.

And maybe, some day when we are REALLY old and gray we will physically get together, have a few drinks (OK, maybe more than a few) and reenact some of our great theatrical moments.

Until then, Happy Birthday Chris.

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