It’s Selma’s Birthday!!! May 10, 2008

OK technically, Selma’s birthday is May 10. But she lives in Australia and, as she pointed out to me, that means she is FIFTEEN HOURS ahead of me! Which, by extension, means that to her American friends, she has TWO birthdays.

Her birthday at HOME and her birthday HERE.

Because, ahem, it IS all about me - as all of my friends have been carefully schooled to understand.

Why do I tell you this?

Because, honestly, other than my daughter, I truly believe that if you read one blog, it should be Selma’s. She really is a brilliantly gifted writer, and by reading her, she has inspired ME to get off my lazy butt and work on the craftsmanship of writing. To read what she writes is like unwrapping a priceless little gift for yourself every day. No. Really. She really is that good.

But she shines as a human being.

She is one of the most empathetic people I’ve ever met, and by that I don’t mean what you usually think of as empathetic.

I mean, honestly, that she truly feels what other people feel. Their pain, their joy, their triumph, their loss. And then she writes about it. She is more connected to the rest of humanity than any other person I’ve ever met - like you’d expect some kind of guru to be connected.

She’s going to kill me when she reads this. Hehehehehehehe. Which makes me giggle.

That empathy, I know, causes her pain sometimes. But at this point in her life, I think she has come to terms with it, with the fact that she is one of those precious people on this earth who truly feels more than most people. She takes the bliss with the mourning. She sees the extraordinary in the ordinary. She remembers everything.

And she will encourage you all day every day with an uncanny sense of knowing exactly what you need to hear to have courage, to feel justified, to feel heard.

We’ve never met in person, Selma and I. But we will someday. Somehow. And we will, as she put it once, paint the town purple together. And hold the most amazing conversations long into the night, stopping only to sleep when we can’t keep out eyes open and picking up the next day at the very next sentence of the discussion.

She introduced me to Writer’s Island which is a wonderful tool for people who write to practice their chops. Since I met her, I have always told myself I would go there weekly and take their prompts and work on it myself.

But I am lazy, and never have. Until now.

Because the prompt for this week is Faithful.

And faithful is what Selma is.

Not in the “old dog” way. But in the way of, if you’re her friend, you can count on her to really be your friend. She will stew over your troubles while you do, she will become giddy with your joys while you do.

And in between it all, she gets up every morning and carries on with her own life and her own duties and obligations, the very best way she knows how. With grace sometimes, with her teeth gritted sometimes. And sometimes, when it all becomes too much, she will crawl under the covers and take a break to reboot.

Honestly - please go over there and wish her a Happy Birthday. She is at the most wonderful time of her life, and I don’t think she even realizes it.

Happy, happy Birthday, my beloved friend.

Thank you so much for coming into my life and enriching it the way you do.

God sees.

And I am not at all sorry for embarrassing you by posting this. Because, at the core of it, I really am an incorrigible person.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha