Tuesday, September 09, 2008

My Best Friend's Birthday

Every time I look, I still see the girl who caught my racing teenage heart. Jesus saved my soul, but Miss Brenda saved my life.

An unprintable number of years ago today, Miss Brenda got the first present I ever bought for a girl, for her 15th birthday. Somewhere in a shoebox of memorabilia is the card I gave her--the stuffed animal gift didn't survive the rigors of child-rearing that began seven years later.

I cannot begin to imagine the trajectory of my life without my soul mate. One thing is certain--she deserves a lion's share of the credit for any success manifest in my existence on this big blue marble.

Miss Brenda is, and I say this in all sincerity and seriousness, the best person I know currently residing in human form on the planet.

She will not tell a lie--even to cover for a surprise.

She possesses an inordinate amount of concern for others. I nick-named her "Twelve" because she cannot help but "tend to" (Ten-two; get it?) anyone and everyone else in the same grid square with her.

She believes in the power of prayer. It is raining gently on my food plots this morning, even though there was no rain in the forecast. She reminded me early this morning that I asked her to pray for rain, yesterday, because I was concerned that the new growth would burn up in the late summer heat, before Bambi ever got a chance to munch on it.

She believes that animals deserve to be treated as well as people--in most cases, she treats animals better than she treats people.

She believes that her children can do no wrong; and, while I fervently disagree and possess manifold evidence to the contrary, I love her for that faith.

Most importantly, she believes in me. And that has made all the difference.

Happy Birthday, Sweetthing!

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