by Cathy
“Youth is wasted on the young.” – George Bernard Shaw
Patti’s birthday was this past Sunday.
Although I was keenly aware of it, it quietly went
uncelebrated this year – without nary a balloon to be popped, a piece of cake
to be relished or a glass of bubbly to be sipped. Why, you ask? How can a
friend just let another friend’s birthday slide by with just a facebook wall post and a quick ‘Happy birthday,
girl!’ thrown into a hectic phone conversation?
I know, I know.
I am her other blog half and self-proclaimed
female spouse. (As the enlightened Oprah had professed on her show, women need
wives.) I should have done something more.
However, in my defense, I couldn’t do a hair’s-width more to celebrate my dear
friend’s birthday - even if I tried.
Patti’s birthday falls on national tax day – April 15th.
But this year, the looming tax deadline wasn’t the issue (not that it was an issue on any
other year, but it's a stressful, deadline-induced hell of a date).
This year, her birthday fell on my Easter Sunday. And because of that, although she
completely understood the hectic craziness that went along with what that entailed,
I didn’t want her to assume that her birthday went unnoticed or worse yet, unrecognized.
We tried in vain to plan a Saturday night out for the
celebratory birthday party, but between Easter, bachelorette parties, gigs,
dinner plans, errands and everyday obligations, we were now looking at a Saturday night in June. How
could it be that we are as booked as Obama? In my book, you don’t officially
tack that extra year onto your age until you celebrate it with your friends. Now,
it seems as if Patti would remain forever…21.
And for those of you who know Patti, (and aside from the fact
that she does frequent the namesake
store on occasion), how truly fitting IS this? She is the quintessential 21-year
old but with the maturity and wisdom that girls that age could only hope for.
Her humor, style, personality, attitude and zest for life all resonate with the
youthful characteristics of a 21-year old. She loves laughing, making people
laugh, music, singing, dancing, eating, cocktails just because, and just plain
being and having fun. What’s more? All of these mood-boosting traits
effortlessly rub off on her friends and even onto fleeting strangers who have
the good fortune to cross paths with her. For all these amazing
twenty-something characteristics and so many more for me to get into in one, solitary blogpost, I love my forty-something
friend.
So…regardless of when we celebrate her birthday, it won’t
matter. Because even though her birthday has come and gone, celebrated or not, she
will always remain forever 21.
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| Cheers to you, beeyotch and happy birthday!! |
P.S. I love you enough to post this crappy pic of myself, but as usual, you are rockin' it. It's a damn, foolish shame that youth in fact belongs to the young, but it will always belong to the young at heart. Stay forever young, my friend. xoxoxo
