November 2003

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How to turn fifty and have a wonderful time doing so? Easy. Make friends with Wendy, twenty-some years before the event. Then, about eighteen months out, mention to her that you've decided your fiftieth birthday will be one to be embraced, rather than dreaded. She'll take it from there.

See, Wendy remembers things that are important. She remembered that I really hate to celebrate my birthday ahead of time, so she made sure to mark down the date...we can thank my parents for the fact that this one hit on a Saturday. I'd also like to thank the ACC and the CIAA teams in the area for not having home games yesterday. That meant we didn't have to plan around game times.

Wendy also remembered that the main ingredient, in terms of birthday food for me, would be chocolate cake. And she knew the restaurant of choice would have said item on its menu. Since I knew she had the skills and talents to make the party happen, I could think about who to invite.

Wendy and Rick, our hosts for the evening

That was pretty easy, too. I have some wonderful, fascinating friends. Some of the ones who live very far away couldn't get here, and they were missed. But the rest of us had a grand time. That rest of us included TeKay, Bradley, Chris, Rick (who is Wendy's husband and usually gets called Senior Partner when I mention him), Wendy, and me.

Me with TeKay

Me with Bradley (black shirt) and Chris (blue shirt)

Since we were going to a restaurant, I pretty much put out the word that it wasn't necessary to sing "Happy Birthday" to me, but when Wendy and Rick came to pick me up, Wendy knocked on the door and started singing as soon as I opened it. She said everyone deserved the song on their birthday, and I agreed. It was a lovely beginning to the party.

The party itself was great fun. All the lovely people there made sure I had a wonderful time, and all the food was excellent. Including the chocolate cupcake (others there chose their own dessert). It's not really clear in the picture the pick in my cupcake is the cat in the hat. And yes, I do have the pick.

The Birthday Cupcake

The nightcap? When I got home, there was a message on my answering machine from TeKay. He had the same idea as Wendy, and I finally got to hear him sing. And that was a lovely ending point to the day.

Today I have spent a lot of time thanking people who sent pictures. I still have some more notes to write. The pictures that have come have been wonderful. I'm looking forward to doing the pages of them.

So far, fifty is fabulous!