birthday tribute

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust

I love celebrating my birthday and the birthdays of those I love. I think birthdays are wonderful and worthy of grand celebrations to be spent however you like. Whether it be a relaxing, simple, quiet time at home spent alone or with loved ones, or an extravagant party, it doesn’t matter, just celebrate the fact that you entered this world and that you made it another year. It is not just another day. It is a special day. You completed another trip around the sun. Congratulations! Now’s the time for another. Make it a good start!

The 4th of March is a special day for me because one of the most beautiful people I know was born 51 years ago. Hard to imagine that she was only 21 when we met. I just want to share with the world how much this one person touched my heart and my life. I believe she is part of the reason I am still here today to write this. This is a public tribute to her, giving thanks for the gift of her life and her love. The love that she pours out onto everyone and everything.

It was 1991, Five Towns College, Seaford, NY; the first day of my word processing class. I went to sit down at my chosen desk, but a pair of legs resting in its chair prevented me from doing so. I looked at the girl sitting at the desk behind it, looked at her boots on my seat, and then looked back at her. She was wearing black nail polish (this was 1991 and not so common back then and stands out in my mind). I asked her to move her feet, and she begrudgingly moved them. (we may remember things differently, lol). I was 31, divorced, and the mother of a four-year-old little girl.   18-22 was the average age of students at Five Towns. Robyn fit right in there at 21. Me? Not so much. I didn’t care, though. It was just so awesome being able to attend. As a struggling single mom, I was grateful for the opportunity. Robyn was there for music, (it was a music school). I was attending for a one-year secretarial certificate. When it came time for us to explore our computers, our teacher sat us side by side. And so the ride began, and it has been a wonderful, exhilarating ride indeed. Like an old pair of jeans, my memory is a bit faded, but the important thing is Robyn and I became fast friends and we formed a beautiful bond. We had many laughs during our time at Five Towns and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. We graduated together in 1992. If I remember correctly, we were only in one class together but saw each other often. At one point Robyn would walk me to class (hers was nearby) because there was a guy there (older, like myself) who was stalking me. He got me into the copy room once and forcefully tried to kiss me. I pushed him off and took off like a bat out of hell. The whole incident has caused much laughter over the years. Robyn was my unofficial bodyguard during that time, walking me to class hoping to circumvent any more encounters. In September, the college moved to a new campus in Dix Hills. I don’t think we had any classes together, but Robyn used to hang out with me in the Dean of Student’s office where I worked during my break in the day., Dr. Quinn didn’t mind. He actually encouraged it. That was a pretty cool gig. I finished school in January 1992 and Robyn that June. We both walked across the stage at Five Towns College that June, having achieved our desired goal and walking out with not only a certificate for me, and a diploma for her, but with a beautiful friendship that was forged during our times there. This photo is the only photo I have of Robyn and me. We continued our friendship outside of school, getting together a few times. I remember going to her house upstate and meeting all her cute animal friends; a beautiful horse named Rocky (who she still has), a cat, and a ferret. Her love for animals was obvious; another thing that endeared her to me.  One day I went to a party at her house for her birthday. I didn’t know if I would fit in, but the different mix of people certainly helped make me feel comfortable.  Robyn had many different types of people as friends.  Differences were something Robyn doesn’t think about.  I think it only matters that they are good souls.  She sees deep within people and is drawn to what she sees and feels on the inside.

Five years after graduating, Robyn moved to Arizona. We drifted apart and back together a few times over the years. When we reconnected, it seemed no time had passed. No more reconnections. This time we will never drift again.

I went through a rough time two years ago. It was obvious on Facebook that I was going through an extremely tumultuous time. During that time, I didn’t know how I would ever get through it or even if I would get through it.  Upon seeing my post, Robyn reached out to me. Not by responding on Facebook, but by calling me. That phone call took us to a deeper level in our friendship. She found out my troubles and shared her troubles with me. We were both in so much pain. We became dependent on each other to get through that pain. She listened to me. I mean really listened to me and was there for me whatever the hour. Whenever we needed each other we were there. We helped each other through those rough times. I don’t know what I would have done without her love, support, and guidance. Forming a bond with a best friend is not something forced. It just happens naturally and grows with every encounter. We learn about each other, through each other, and we grow together. We gain trust and acceptance. I have learned she is a beautiful soul who has a heart full of love for people and animals. As I said earlier, Robyn pours her whole heart into everything and everyone. She is beautiful, brave, strong, kind, caring, honest, and real. Sometimes her powerful love and devotion get her into a predicament, but her strength gets her through as well as her faith in God; how he uses her as an instrument is a driving force. His call she always answers. Robyn sees deep into their interior and she feels their feelings right down to the marrow of her bones, so to speak. Robyn is not an on-the-surface type of person. She is deep and down to earth. We are on the phone yesterday and we were talking about our sun signs. I looked up her sign and read about the Pisces woman. It was so on target. She is a healer, a comforter, kind, and compassionate. Here is something that the article says:

“Pisces always fights for the underdogs and is known for her soft-hearted ways. She is deeply sentimental and often moved to tears by sad movies and even sappy dog food commercials. Don’t make fun of her for her empathetic personality–the world needs more dreamers and practitioners of loving kindness. Sweet Pisces is here to show us all how to be gentler–with each other, and with ourselves,” “Kind-hearted Pisceans have a tendency to take in strays of all kinds, so she may have a revolving cast of rescues, whether it’s a bird with a broken wing whom she’s nursing back to health, or a wayward friend sleeping on her couch.” This is all so very Robyn!

Today is her birthday and I celebrate her. Through thick and thin and everything in-between she is my dear, sweet, darling, friend and I am blessed, so very blessed she is in my life.

Happy Birthday, Robyn. I can’t say it much better than last year. “You are one of the best people I have ever known. You have an enormous heart that forever loves and gives. You are so genuine, so down to earth, so real. You are someone who I am so comfortable being myself with, someone who I can fully trust, someone who I can depend on, someone I can cry with and laugh with, someone who knows that sometimes there are no words and only heart. You are kind, loving, altruistic, honest, and always hopeful even when hope is so very hard. I wish you all the beauty, happiness, and love that you so deserve. May this year be one that brings more laughter than tears, one that brings more sun than clouds, and more happiness than your heart can hold. I love you, Robyn. Thank you for all the joy you’ve bought to my life. Those two words (thank you) sound so meager. Know (and I know you know) those words are from a sincere heart filled with gratefulness for all that you are and have been to not only me but others who were blessed to cross your path. May all your dreams and wishes come true, and through it all, I hope you dance.

And this is from me, and I am sure it echos the sentiments of your other friends as well, so it is from them too!