At the end of the day I've got to say that I live a pretty good life. What else could it be when you spend the entire day being attacked from all sides with "Happy Birthdays," eating breakfast with a load of friends who have declared that time a "Cary-OKee" party, doing the traditional Musical Friday festivities with people who actually went out of their way to come to Rosa's because of my birthday, shooting golf balls all around campus with a bunch of trend-setters who are taking ACU by storm with Ultimate Putt Putt (an event that was arranged entirely on Facebook in honor of my birthday), sitting around Sharkie's with cool people, and winding up the night with good friends and a movie. My phone rang off the hook too, and I spent most of the movie going down the list trying to call everyone back. Today saw little things too like praying next to the GATA fountain with a friend and passing another freshman student who needed to talk about some things.

I know that there are people in the world that feel like they don't have anyone. I've felt the pangs of that kind of pain in my own life. Because of that, I hope that I never take this kind of community for granted, because it truly is a gift. It really doesn't take a lot to let someone know that you really care about them. There are ways in my life in which I know I need to improve upon that discipline, and it is showed by the ways people care about me. I can't even sit down at a computer in the Learning Commons for two minutes without being attacked from behind by multiple choruses of Happy Birthday. Little stuff like that makes life a happy place. A couple of years ago my friend and coworker, Kristy, went through her phone telling everyone about my birthday, and I arrived to my office that morning to find a giant pile of gifts and cards stacked against the door. I still have a giant birthday card signed by all the Sooners for Christ that was presented to me at retreat one year (my birthday always seemed to fall during or around fall retreat). I also still have a handmade card assembled by the Freshman Cult girls. Of course, it depicts a cow with a bell and an OU visor.

So, a big thank you to everyone who has helped make this day great all the years of my life. You're amazing.