rosehips

I just got home from one of the best nights of my life. I'd resigned myself to treating my birthday as just another day. In my family birthday celebrations are only for children and are pretty tame affairs. The only people who ever made a big deal out of my birthday was Roy (some of you may remember the friendship I ruined by falling for a married man) and my ex Yusuf. And those were almost always small private celebrations. So I wasn't expecting today (last night, now I guess) to be anything but another Saturday. But I was in for a surprise. As in a surprise party. I can honestly say I have never been more surprised. And so proud of the girls who threw it. I've been working with these girls for a while now. Teaching them lots of things. Art, self defense, dance, fitness, financial management and basic life skills. And tonight I realized how much they have learned. When I first met them they thought they couldn't do anything. Neither did anyone else. Because no one had ever given them a chance.

Not only did they plan every aspect of the party tonight, but they did a better job than most of the professionals I've seen. It was wonderful. I was so proud of them. They raised the money themselves, bought and prepared food & decorations. Put together a perfect guest list. Tracked down almost all of the family and friends I would have wanted there and managed to avoid inviting anyone I would rather not see. All of this while keeping up with their studies at school and with me, working at my gym after school, and without me ever having a clue what they were up to. I was so touched. And it was a great time. They even chose perfect music. The only thing that could have made it made it better was if Roy or Yusuf had been there. I miss both those guys. Still, I'm learning to live and love without them. Thanks to some of the best kids I've ever known. I'm a lucky girl.