The Kindness of Celebration

"We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give."

~ Winston S. Churchill

I recently had lunch with a former colleague and good friend.  She has had a rough time lately, including losing her partner of 15 years.  But that has not dimmed her capacity for giving.  She shared that a colleague of hers had celebrated a big birthday not too long ago.  (The birthday is so big that we have not arrived there yet.)  My friend then showed me photos of the celebrations that she had arranged for this colleague at work.  The night before the woman's birthday, my friend and others had stayed behind at the office to decorate the birthday girl's cubicle.  On the morning of the big day, my friend went to a specialty (and very donut shop and bought boxes of amazing concoctions to begin the birthday celebration.  My friend also hired mariachis to serenade the woman at work.  I have no doubt that the woman with the big birthday will never forget the wonderful celebration that my friend arranged for her.  And my friend managed to do this despite a heart that still aches.