Milestone Birthday

Today is all about Mary, my exquisite friend whose presence fills a room with light, with joy, with warmth and acceptance.

Her conversation is informed and intelligent; yet she kindly listens to me - completely without judgment, completely without prejudice - as I bumble incoherently along, trying to express a thought to her in my usual clumsy style.

Her parties are legendary, and she opens her beautiful home to friends from all walks of life - and somehow, under the spell of her hospitality, everyone fits in and each one is made to feel important.

The men in her life - Generous John, Charming Charlie and Sweet William - are like moths to her flame. She keeps their schedules organized and everyone gets to where they need to be at all times. She listens to them and cajoles them and worries about them and loves them. In turn, they turn to her and support her and love her right back. She fosters an atmosphere of respect in her home.

She is an athlete, running marathons, biking, skiing, swimming.

She, who owns an exquisite concert grand piano, played a keyboard on a golf course one cold August 12 morning, wrapping her silk-clad self in her husband's suit jacket and turning O Mio Babbino Caro into an anthem.

She doesn't try to shy away from her birthday but rather relishes it, revelling in the many accomplishments and joys and friends someone of her age has collected.

She has had her share of mourning and because of this is willing to drop everything to hold a hand, to be a shoulder, to offer words of consolation that stem from her own experience.

She is resilient, good natured, resourceful.

She's not afraid to dream. She encourages me to dream. And she figures out a way to turn dreams into reality.

She doesn't keep score.

She is a loyal friend, a keeper of confidences, a mentor, an example.

She can weep at "Comfort Ye" in Handel's Messiah, and she can dance along to songs Charlie and Will are singing.

And she believes in the magic of a sundog, a rainbow, the perfect little black dress, a break for a blue coffee, a rueful moment in a Lyle Lovett concert.

She knows the value of the two words, "Oh well."

She is what 50 should look like.

I adore her.