Dear John

Dear John, the letter read. And with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives changed forever....

So begins the new Nicholas Sparks book that I started reading yesterday. Yeah baby.

My birthday was nice, though relatively uneventful. I mostly ran errands and cleaned my car. Then I said hi to my friend, Cathie, online around 5:00 and we made a very spontaneous decision to go out to dinner. By 5:30 we were both at the restaurant. How fun! Who says we in the midwest can`t move fast?

Work was slow today. I spent a few hours in the drive up where I read some of the book mentioned above.

How can we face loss --- without giving up on love? Now, when he finally returns to North Carolina, John will discover that loving Savannah will force him to make the hardest decision of his life....

So goes the story.

I`m off to watch American Idol soon. Is it just me, or is it lacking this year? Last year seemed so - exciting, ya know?? I just can`t get into it so much this year and I look at these finalists and I`m not seeing a Chris Daughtry or a Taylor Hicks, a Clay or a Carrie. It`s still early, so maybe my view will change. But as Randy would say, "I`m just not feelin` it, dawg. "

An old friend called me last night. We went to school together and she moved away years ago, but we still keep in touch. Neither time nor distance has affected the depth of a friendship. We were on the phone for over two hours, with her doing most of the talking. She had a lot to tell me about her life, her family, things she is/was going through. Funny how you know people at such a young age, and then you follow through their lives - all the twists and turns that it takes. When I first met her in seventh grade, we were playing kickball and carefree. I don`t know where the time goes.

Her and I once went to a KISS concert and she painted her face like Ace. Wild times. Lots of parties. She moved to California and I moved to NY. She flew east for my wedding. I flew west for hers. Her daughter is my goddaughter. Parents die, friends get sick, I went through a divorce, life happens, and the friendship still thrives and a friend still calls to say, "Happy Birthday - I miss you!"