Day 18 is my favorite birthday.

(If the title totally confuses you, check out the Barbarian Birthday Song!)

Sometime in my preteens, I discovered a great and valid-ever-since-then truth about my friends: they do not get along.

I am a rather laid-back person. I can befriend a wild variety of people and relate to them one-on-one with no issues. But those people cannot always relate to one another, occasionally just being too far apart on the spectrum of subjective reality. And that’s okay. One doesn’t have to “get” or get along with everyone. My friends are all awesome in their own ways.

But it did mean that I stopped having birthday parties pretty early on, and instead had little get-togethers of two or three friends, which was usually still too much of a clash.

As an adult, my preferred way to celebrate my birthday is to go out to a favorite restaurant and spend the dinner with a close friend or two. For the three years I lived in Colorado, Pat was my friend of choice. And it is because of him that I have happy birthday memories at all.

Thanks, bud.