As most of you know, my birthday was this week. Everyone was so busy at school that evening that I didn't get to go out with people. It didn't matter, since I thought the day was touching in many respects. At the end of my birthday day, I reflected on several small moments that had made me feel special. The students here--and even some of the faculty--are great to me. And when I arrived home that night I had 3 different floral arrangements on the ledge leading to my apartment.The night following my birthday, I went to dinner with a few friends and then we were going bowling. I had no idea that there were about 20 additional friends from the Adcenter at the bowling alley, complete with a cake and lots of cards and chocolate/cookies from a great chocolate shop here in Richmond. It was really touching. One of my best friends here, Tamice, had even gotten a student to call me a few weeks ago for a class survey (which actually does happen legitimately here) to ask what my favorite kind of cake and m&m's were. Adorable. Best of all, everyone had a lot of fun bowling. That made me happy.
Yes, there were some age jokes. I got a "Happy 16th Birthday" card. I got a bar of chocolate labeled "Bochox" which guarantees that if you eat some of it you won't care about your wrinkles. :-) I'm still uncomfortable with and obsessed about my age. Being around people who are mostly 23-25 doesn't always help. But this year was a great birthday. I feel very lucky.
xo's to all of you reading this!! Thanks for the cards and gifts.
