Birthday Wishes

Last year, on October 14th, I wrote this post about my friend Julia. I got an email that day from her, after she saw the post, asking, "Did you know today was my birthday?" I honestly had no idea! What are the odds? Well, 365 to 1, actually. (Maybe I should play the lottery sometime).

I met Julia in November of 2000. I was going to be team teaching in the 4-5 year old class. The first day I walked into a room full of 24 wild preschoolers, who were already comfortable in their chaos by November, I felt a bit lost. Julia made it her job to fill me in on things, and to make me feel comfortable. I liked her from day one.

There were many teachers and helpers who came in and out of that classroom over the next three years. Three teachers trying to mesh their personalities and teaching styles was sometimes difficult, but Julia and I were very similar and never had any problems getting along. As a matter of fact, she would sometimes invite me and Jim (whom I had just started dating), to hang with her and her husband, and another couple. I usually turned her down, thinking that if we spent time together outside of work, it might be too much, and we would start getting on each others nerves. Ooof! (Kicking self. I was stupid then). Now, she lives far away and I never get to see her.

If you are wondering why I don't link to her blog, it's because she wants to keep her blog private. So many people (myself included) started blogging for selfish reasons. They wanted to find friends, they wanted to get a book deal, they wanted to make money, etc. Julia just wanted to chronicle her daughters' childhoods. Pure and simple. There is something so darn fantastic about that, and she does it beautifully.

Happy Birthday Julia!!!