I don’t know if you guys know this about me, but a) today is my 46th birthday. b) I don’t work on my birthday.  This means that today I’ll be knitting with my feet up, and it falls to someone else to write the blog. I’ve asked lots of people to do it.   Ken did it in 2004.  My Mum did it in 2005. My daughters did it in 2006. My sister did it in 2012 – and today Jen’s doing it.  This landed in my inbox this  morning, and I love it, and she’s right. I am difficult.  The funny thing is that the older I get, the more that works for me, and the less I try to change it.  By the way if anyone was considering a Birthday gift? I don’t need anything for myself, but tiny donations add up and change the world, and that would be a nice thing.  I’m looking ahead to smashing my fundraising goal into a million pieces.  

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Dear Steph,

Thanks for asking me to write your birthday blog this year.  I know you have high standards and expectations of people and so I am flattered that you asked me to step into your living room and tell my Steph story. I’ve had to think about which approach to take for a few days. There are so many – cloyingly lovey, sickeningly sweet and earnest, or the delicious roast.

We have been friends for a decade which in the grand scheme isn’t so long but in that decade you’ve gotten married, parented three kick ass girls into womanhood (and thus supplying me with a triumvirate of spectacular babysitters), wrote New York Times Bestsellers, learned how to ride a road bike and then rode it for ~6000 km; all the while introducing new perspectives and approaches to the age old act of knitting.  Don’t even get me started on your philanthropy local and abroad.

 Hold on….Marlowe just woke up.  

These are all inspiring accomplishments and indicative of adventures that you have yet to embark upon in this long and short crazy life. No, what I love and deeply value most about you, and I’m not sure I should say this on The Blog but in the interest of living an honest true life I feel I must be real.

I love how difficult you are.

As someone who has been described as “hell bent on finding ANY fight” having a friend with a similar propensity to refuse to lie down in the face of adversity has made life so much less lonely. Someone who when going through an incredible and terrifying life challenge checks in with her instincts hourly and refuses to compromise her moral and ethical position.  

By the way, I will take this opportunity to give you a mild correction to your beautiful post about me; you had every reason to worry and be afraid of the consequences of those decisions; it was a scary time and you were Tremendous.

Maybe it’s a lifetime of learning how to live with your crippling inability to compromise your ethics and budge on your morals but your ability to solve problems that is breathtaking. It is a pleasure to work through a sticky situation with you I come out with a great solution and a broader perspective. The more difficult the problem, the more spectacular the resolution.

As a (caffeinated) riding partner you are charming and hilarious to a fault. You are the only person who, uncaffeinated, has a Jekyll/Hyde syndrome though.

I wouldn`t want to ride 60 through 75 km on a 100 km ride with anyone else (seriously never again without coffee.) I look forward to many more kilometres on the road, hours in raging debate and glasses of wine and coffee with you.

Happy Birthday Old Friend

Jen