Turn And Face The Stranger

["Age does not affect me except in my legs...I've got a head up here that hasn't changed one iota in the last 25 years." So saith Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), now the longest-serving U.S. Senator in history.]

[Well, don't brag about it, Senator. Your recent vote on that excrescence, the Marriage Protection Amendment, tells me that maybe you should check your head and make a few small changes.]

[Me, I had a birthday this weekend, and I'll admit that my head has changed in innumerable ways, not just in 25 years but in 25 days. Minutes?]

[My sister, brother-in-law, and niece were nice enough to let me take over their backyard for an afternoon and gather my friends together to hold a birthday vigil under typically overcast skies. Said vigil included lots of grilled tri-tip beef, sausages, shrimp; pot luck dishes ran the gamut from my mom's friend Annabelle's pickled Italian vegetables to Chris's World-Famous Tic Tac Pie. (Chastity Pariah would be proud.) I had my usual (and planned) "when worlds collide" feeling when friends meet for the first time, and that was without a few key players who couldn't make it. It was good, it's over, and I'm 37 now for a whole year!]

Previously Next