(Kristine with her sisters--Kimberly and Leslie, and her mom, Arlene)I love birthdays. I love Kristine. I love chocolate-dipped strawberries. Kristine says that birthdays are just an excuse to have dipped strawberries. Gosh. If I had been able to use this kind of logic in that philosophy class I failed 14 years ago...I might have been able to graph an argument "logically". And Jeff says that I'm not always logical. Hmmm...I don't know about that. Birthdays, friends, chocolate strawberries...all together are the most logical way to celebrate.
Well, my dear friend Kristine Stevenson, had a birthday this week. Going to a nice lunch just seemed par for the day. (Shhh...really, we go out several days a week for nice lunches--so we really just needed to step up the ante for the big day). I love 'munch and mingles' and so I sent a few e-mails, and her sisters sent a few e-mails...and before you know--we were on for a party.
Kristine started another round of chemo 3 weeks ago. The doctors said her hair would start coming out between weeks 2-3--right around birthday time. I ran into a mutual friend one afternoon who asked what she could do to "help" Kristine. I said I didn't know of anything in particular (except the lots of faith and prayers Kristine requested, but we'll get to that in a minute)--I said that I wished I could give her some of my hair. This friend said that was a great idea--to give her hair. (Beware--"lack of logic" example coming...) I laughed and said that was pretty funny--brown hair mixed with her blond hair. Wig hair didn't dawn on me at this point until the said friend says she would like to donate some cash for Kristine's hair. LIGHT BULB moment. Philosophy 110 logic: Wigs are expensive. Kristine likes expensive. Friends want to help pay for hair for Kristine. SOLD.
The thought was born to have a "Hair-raising" Birthday party. I found funny/funky hair-dos and figured out how to paste them onto the birthday e-mail (this being the hardest part of creating the invitation). Everyone was invited to donate what they would have spent on lunch out to Kristine for her birthday as a means of paying for some beautiful hair to wear over the next few months of chemo--till the real stuff comes back in lush and long. I had so many great responses and I was thrilled that it was received with the light-hearted sense of humor I hoped it would be.
Thus the "Hair-Raising" Birthday Party was born. I don't know if it seemed a little odd for the lack of any gifts during the occasion. I had a bucket set by the front door to catch the cards and envelopes with the token gifts. We had lots of yummy desserts and snacks...and most of all, it was just nice to visit with so many people who love Kristine.
A few weeks ago Kristine said that all she "needed" was peoples' faith and prayers to take on the challenges of the next few months. That thought stayed with me for days until it occurred to me to have some of her friends share their prayers and thoughts with her. So 2 weeks before her birthday I rounded up the names of some of her friends and started to contact them one by one. She is no recluse or hermit. The list is gargantuan. If the idea had sprung from the thought factory a little sooner, I could have persisted and followed-up with more people. But as it was, I was able to get so many responses back from her friends and family--to the tune of 30 pages. My intention is to have them published into a book form with some beautiful pictures as a momento of her amazing 39th birthday.
So, needless to say--I had a great day on Kristine's birthday :) She's amazing. She is the standard I find myself trying to measure up to. Tall in spirit, not just body--is what I see as the embodiment of the truest of friends. I wish Kristine a fabulous year and 60 more fabulous birthdays to come!!
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