A Birthday Wish

While I need to continue the Tour of California story, I'm digressing onto what's on my mind today. I turn 40 in a few days, and am having a party on the weekend. Actually, it's more of an extravaganza, but that's neither here nor there in this post. When I reflect on the past four decades that have been my life, I must say that I have had an awesome time. I think I've been more fortunate than many, have worked hard for what I have, and I would generally have to say my life is pretty awesome. While pretty much most of my close friends are coming to the party, there are some glaring absences in the guest list, due mainly to distance I suppose.

I have a couple of close friends from the 1980's who are still very important people to me. They're not coming to the party as one now lives in Australia (although she'll be in Nova Scotia this weekend, "so close but oh so far" as she put it), and another now lives in Toronto. I have shared laughter, tears, and everything in between with these two fabulous girls (technically they would be women now, but we're still all 17 in my head). I don't see either of them often, but when I do, the conversation picks up as if there aren't years and thousands of kilometers between us. If only I had an extra plane ticket lying around from Toronto to Victoria, I know who I'd send it to!

My 20's were a crazy, fun time. I had this friend (OK, we're still friends, but he's all but disappeared it seems and contact is sporadic...) who was always game for anything, always had good tunes going, and a wicked sense of humour. He's now a helicopter pilot in some small town, somewhere in Alberta (I think, I'm never really sure where he is). I've laughed so hard with him that I'm surprised I haven't needed surgery to fix some internal damage that's caused. We speak far too infrequently these days, and I really miss him.

Representing the more recent years, is a friend who lives in southern California. I actually see her fairly often, and we email each other a lot. We're united in a desire to suffer while running, biking, and swimming, and bonded over 10 years when we were hopelessly unprepared for that suffering. She really should be here for some of the events planned for my birthday extravaganza.

Therefore I am missing some important representatives from the last 30 years of my life. I'm excited that many of my close friends will be there, but these four will be missed. Many memories from the past include them, and I'll be raising a glass with friends in mind on Saturday night. OK, probably more than one glass... cheers and here's to another 40 years!