Ed's birthday

I missed my friend Ed's fiftieth birthday! It was on July 25 and I had meant to e-mail him. I did today.

I've known Ed ever since junior high school, which makes him my oldest friend. We lost touch in high school (I moved) and during college. We reconnected when I was working my first "real" job, at Waverly Press in Baltimore. I had car problems that just wouldn't end, and Ed (and our mutual friend, another Diane) went out of their way to give me rides to and from work, something I've never forgotten.

Through the shared rides Ed and I rekindled our friendship. It helped that we were both living in Columbia at the time too. We had some good times sharing Double "R" Bar burgers from Roy Rogers and tending to everyday things. I also remember one particularly happy time -- happy because it was so ordinary or "random," as my kids would say -- when Ed and my high school friend Linda and I walked around a Columbia lake on a summer night, then sat on the wooden pier and talked, and I felt very contented and at peace.

Ed is one of the most caring and loyal people I know. Now he lives in Arizona, so I don't see him very often, but I do want to wish him a Happy Birthday.