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Happy 40th Birthday to Me

I turned 40 on June 18. Happy birthday to me.

birthday1 Most of my friends know, I love throwing parties. Why the hell not? We are on this earth to celebrate! Whether it’s the Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage, Pride Weekend, a major birthday, a non-birthday, or even a death, lives should be celebrated.

I am writing this post with a pained heart because I found out today that a friend’s 9-year-old son passed away. I feel honored and blessed to have met Tyler. He was the happiest, sweetest boy. There is both sadness and profound joy that he graced us with his captivating presence.

I almost cancelled my birthday party because of some majorly huge stressors in my life. I’ll get to all of that in another post, but Dean convinced me otherwise. I celebrated at Ampersand flower shop in San Francisco with 30 friends from all walks of life: high school, college, work, Burning Man. Whether you were at my birthday or not, family and friends mean a lot to me. This is what life is all about, enjoying each moment, savoring our relationships. Some of my friends brought tears to my eyes, oh the stories they were telling about what our connection was or what memory stood out about me. I certainly felt special. Best birthday ever.

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06.29.15

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Comments

  1. janine Huldie

    June 29, 2015 at 6:46 pm

    Happy 40th Birthday, Catherine and so glad you had such a great celebration, but I am so sorry about the loss of your friend’s little boy still.

    Reply
  2. Karen

    June 30, 2015 at 7:02 am

    Happy Birthday! My 40th was one of my favorites too. Glad you had a great time.

    Reply
  3. Patrick Weseman

    June 30, 2015 at 9:41 am

    Welcome to adulthood. Hope you have a blessed year. Prayers go out to your friends son.

    Reply
  4. Tamara

    June 30, 2015 at 9:59 am

    It looks like a beautiful party for a gorgeous woman. Happy 40th! And certainly happy Pride weekend, and Pride everything.
    I’m turning 35 this summer and I want to climb a mountain. Literally.

    Reply
  5. AwesomelyOZ

    June 30, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    First, I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your friends son.. My son will be 9 next year so that hits close to him. We definitely have to count our blessings and celebrate when we can. I’m huge on birthdays and love celebrating with friends.

    Definitely excited that same sex marriage is finally legal… ABOUT TIME! 🙂

    Glad your 40th birthday was the best one ever!!! You look gorgeous! 🙂 Hope things are well and HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHERINE! 🙂 Take Care -Iva

    Reply
  6. Dana

    July 9, 2015 at 2:50 pm

    Happy belated birthday! May your forties be fabulous, and full of wonderful times with friends and family. (That alliteration was not intentional!)

    Reply
  7. Mo

    July 14, 2015 at 12:37 pm

    Happy belated birthday! Wishing you many years of health and happiness and time spent with those you love. My heart and prayers go out to Tyler’s family.

    Reply
  8. Cyrn

    July 14, 2015 at 4:40 pm

    Happy 40th Catherine!

    Reply
  9. gracielle

    July 15, 2015 at 5:34 pm

    Happy 40th birthday! You look fabulous!

    Sorry to hear about the little boy. That is so sad!

    Reply

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Welcome to my site, derived from an advice column I wrote while getting my MBA. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I give helpful, opinionated advice based on my own experience and from the expertise of my extensive network. For more, click here.

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