Monday #25: An Open Letter To My BFF, Deb, On The Occasion Of Her 60th Birthday

 

My Dear Deb,

I will completely admit that, in the fifteen years we have known each other and have been best friends, I have remembered your birthday, on your birthday, only a handful of times (most often reminded by Facebook, thank you very much).

Cake by Tricia Patterson.

So, I figured that this year, with it being on a Monday–and, of course, it being your big, whoppery six-O– I’d share it, and our amazing friendship, with everyone.

You were the first friend I made when I moved here to New Jersey. OK, you were the second friend I made but I liked you better than the first one, that’s for sure. When we met that night at book club, I thought, who’s that bossy woman in the black turtleneck who thinks she knows everything about parenting, food and literature? It only took about a week to realize we were two of a kind in so many ways and after a couple of playdates with the kids, our friendship was off and running.

We have raised our children together, shared our dreams with each other, revealed to one another our deepest secrets and toasted more than a few glasses of wine. You have been my sounding board, my second opinion and a shoulder to cry on when I needed one. You are truly like a sister to me and our relationship is a rare gift in a life full of busy-ness, stress and responsibility.

But, perhaps, the thing that defines my friendship with you the most is laughter. I’m not sure I’ve shared as much laughter with anyone else in the world. From piss-your-pants laughing at stupid humor like Austin Powers or the Farting Preacher, to laugh-in-order-to-deal with real life situations like parenting, marriage, power outages that go on for days and days or winter breaks where everyone in both our families has head lice (yeah, remember that?). We laugh and we laugh a lot. You have brought so many good times to my life, girl, and that is something I don’t take for granted.

Thank you, my smart, funny, beautiful, dancing, photo-taking friend for many years of being my BFF. I’m so happy you are a part of my life. Here’s a big hip-hip-hooray on this, your sixtieth year.  May you have many, many more.

Happy Birthday! I love you.

Dar