Dear Katie, the golden-birthday girl

Happy GOLDEN birthday, Katie!

You all might be unaware of this, but Katie is one of my most dear friends on this entire Earth. We’ve known of each other’s existence since we were pre-schoolers, been classmates since Kindergarten, friends since the 2nd grade, and the best of friends since the 3rd grade. I mean, I don’t wanna brag, but we’ve been friends for 20 years. How does that even happen?!

In first grade, my locker was right next to Sheila’s, and Katie was really good friends with Sheila and would always be leaning on my locker chatting away with Sheila when I got out of class because, as it seemed, Ms. Garlic’s class (Katie’s) was always let out just a wee earlier than Mrs. Nordland’s (my class). Everyday I’d be like pssssshhhhhhhhhttt… that Katie, blockin’ my locker again! But it was cool, because she’d tell us hilarious stories like when she got ice from the nurse one time and let it melt in class and through a hole in the bag squirted water across the room when Ms. Garlic was turned around. Or was it one of her trouble-maker classmates that did that? Oh the scandal! I don’t know, but boy oh boy did Katie tell funny stories!

And then, in the second grade, I was the proud owner of some pretty cool markers. I mean, the coolest. And we were both in Ms. Saegabrecht’s class (no but seriously, I have no idea how to spell Say-guh-bret). And one time when we moved desks, I had to sit next to Paul, but that also meant Katie was sitting across from me in prime marker-sharing real estate. And so it goes.

We have shared some really silly times together. Silliest of things that kids do when kids still have imaginations and can play and play and play and never tire. Silliest of things that teenagers do on Winter and Summer breaks from school (after all, I had moved by then). Silliest of things that college students do only in those few years when such rambunctious behavior seems to be socially admissible so long as one holds a University ID. And we have so far proven that we are still highly capable even as adults of making complete fun and of having purely silly moments and sharing lots of laughter in each other’s company.

Our friendship has also carried us over some of the more serious times in life. Sometimes I think about alllll the things that have happened in the last 20 years. Do other people get so lucky to have friends like Katie in life? And then I think about Rachel and Emma, too and think, holy smokes! Grand slam on friendships.

Here is what I wish for Katie in her golden birthday year, (all wishes are limitless and include the option to renew for the rest of her years, too):

• happiness
• laughter
• motivation (this I wish to her not because she doesn’t already have it but because one can never have enough!)
• lots of fun dates with goooooooooooood lookin’, considerate men
• time for family
• Olympic-level curling skills
• time for travel (and consequently safety)
• minimal amounts of new wrinkles (I’m kidding, I’m kidding… we’re still young!)
• a working telephone so that she can tell me all about all of the wonderful things going on in her life
• and most of all, I wish that Katie feels all of the love that is always coming her way from people all over the map who care about her and know that she is worth celebrating, not just today but always.

Very, very happy day to you Katie!

love always,
E