i’m SO glad.

Yesterday was my birthday.  There were so many highlights… here are some…

• Riding on the back of a tandem bike to work… drinking a delivered latte.

• Birthday pie.

• A phone call from Italy that included three renditions of adorable little-girl Happy Birthday singing… in Italian, Spanish, and Chinese… ah-mazing.

• Great news at work… that I will tell you about soon.

• Drinking dark and stormys made from home-brewed ginger beer…

Even though he brewed ginger beer for me in the years before, I really didn’t expect it this time.

• Dinner with Missoula loves at the best pizza place ever.

• Hall and Oates.

• Temporary tattoos.  [“how trampy do you want your stamp?”]

…and so much more.

But what really takes the birthday pie [get it? instead of cake.], was all the mail I received.

For over a week before yesterday, I started getting letters marked, “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL MAY 16.”  I grew insanely curious.

I would get a letter in the mail, see the front and go, “YESSS!” and then I would turn it over and see that I couldn’t open it yet and go, “DAMMIT!”

I honestly had no idea what was going on… nor did I know who was behind it all… all of this…

So, when I got home from work yesterday, Evan said I could open the letters.  It was an overwhelming experience.  Each one was a puzzle piece.

And the first one I opened, Emma’s, I was kind of blown away… did not expect it… she was telling me about why she was so happy I was alive… in her life…

It was a lot to take in… wow.

And then they just kept going.

25 people wrote [or shared a photo, a poem, a drawing] and told me why that were glad that I was born.  It was incredible. There were many times that I had to stop, breathe, got choked up… started crying… had to stop, settle down.

Evan made a little stop-motion video of me opening them… I was about six or seven letters in when he started…

[that video does not do the experience justice… at all… but it is precious for me to watch it and relive it.]

I didn’t know who did this all, organized it… I had my guesses.  And I opened them in an order where I would find out quickly who did all this… or so I thought.  I got down to four letters: my mom’s, my dad’s, Evan’s, and Lisa’s… and I still had no idea who was responsible.

I opened Lisa’s, sent from Italy, and it said, “OK, so by now you are on to my plot.”

I just cried.  Had to take a second.  I didn’t expect her.  We’ve been friends for 25 years now.  She could say to me, “Hey, I forgot your birthday, sorry.” and I would say, “That’s okay.  I love you.”… but she didn’t.  She contacted TWENTY-FOUR of my friends… most of which she does not know… also, FROM ITALY… and made this happen.  Made me feel like a princess on my birthday.  Amazing.

Multiple drinks into my celebration last night, I kept saying, “Lisa is like Oprah… No, she’s better than Oprah… ‘YOU GET A CARD!  AND YOU GET A CARD!'”

It was the most beautiful birthday gift I have ever received.  Hands down.  When I finished reading it all, I put the pieces together and this is how it read…

Right?  Tears.  Of joy.  So special.  So sweet.

And I wanted to try to repay you all with a little bit of something special… so I did an OH-MY-GOODNESS THANK YOU radio show.  A song dedication for each of you.

Click on the photo to download.  Or right here.  The radio show is a better story of all of the cards… I try to do them justice, but it’s so hard… they are all so wonderful.

I love you all.

I’m exhausted from your love… which is the best kind of exhaustion.

[thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouiloveitiloveyou.]