Phew, what a birthday.

You’re only 60 once, so why not blow it out for weeks. That’s exactly what I did.

Two dear friends from church treated me to a big ol’ steak dinner. Yeah, Ruth’s Chris, no less!

A girlfriend had three of us at her home for a lovely dinner and lots of wine. Another just showed up with a HUGE bouquet of flowers and Starbucks the morning of my birthday. Oh! And a lovely night at the wine bar.

With leopard trim, of course!

There’s more. I was showered with all sorts of gifts I didn’t deserve. My Paris buddies surprised me with new luggage (they were horrified at what I had brought). I got some great fuzzy slippers, new towels and two VERY COOL books on graffiti. Imagine that!

And the ‘big day’ was just as I’d wanted . . . a somewhat quiet day with my family. We had lunch at a meat-n-three, the best kinda cooking you can get south of the Mason-Dixon. And for dessert, my daughter made me some snicker-doodles, my very favorite cookies on earth.

It was perfect.

But I gotta tell ya, the biggest surprise came when my email and Facebook accounts got hijacked.

My crafty sister – who, by the way, you can never trust – scoured my Facebook and email accounts for names of old friends from as far back as grammar school. She dug deep to find college friends whose addresses I had lost. High school friends and long-lost work buddies. She told everyone to spread the word: “60 cards for her 60^th!”

I got cards and letters from sorority sisters who I’d not heard from in decades. A work buddy who now lives in California, cousins spread across the country, wonderful neighbors . . .

Nothing. Nothing could have made my day more perfect.

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The biggest smile came from the card my ‘very prah-per’ mother sent. On the front was an illustration of a monkey, decked out in full hippie attire. It read:

“Happy 60^th Birthday. Take a trip to celebrate your big day.

DesignerGreetings.com

Inside: “Of course, a trip in your sixties is different than a trip in the THE 60s!”

Tell me I don’t have one cool mom.

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But my favorite card came as no surprise. I get one every year.

You see, Jenny Humphreys, or “Miss Sunshine” as she’s known around our church, is confined to a wheelchair with very limited mobility. Armed with her computer, she designs a card, each different, each specially made, for every person in our church.

Jenny, you are amazing. You made my day.