Valor and Bravery: A birthday medal

     You always threw me the most delightful birthdays. Tables littering the house with tiled word games and smooth storyboards. Pink mache roses trailing the banister and a metallic Happy Birthday strung between the frosted backyard windows. Pieces of Texas Chocolate sheet cake crowing the kitchen counter and always 7 of my closest friends to sing a rowdy song. Sometimes there was Katy Perry on the stereo, strangers on the piano bench, or a cake-shaped hat on my head. We would barricade the dogs in your bedroom and turn on the fan: too much excitement on the battlefield of fun for such small soldiers. 
​      As I am sure you remember, I launched an attack against the warlord of Birthday every year. Too many people. Too much attention. Under no circumstances was I to be surprised. My toes would curl from the day of planning to the day of birth. Hard lines were gunned. Hard no’s were maneuvered. You were the brave party planner; I was missing in action. Yet, even without a faithful comrade, you claimed victory year after year. my parties were always a blinding success,
     And I loved you for it. Because, after all, birthdays are never only about you. They are also about the people who love you. The people who cheer for you. Write odes to you. Pluck music for you. judge trinkets for you. The people who want to see you reach another year and celebrate it when you do. it does not matter if you like surprise parties; what matters is that you have someone who wants to plan one for you. 
     Thank you captain Bayne (lisa to those to know her pen, rather than her pinata). It is my honor to celebrate another year of you and to bring about the birth of this website because what is the point of labor if not for love. 
your daughter, 
Sarah
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