The big moments of your life, the type that define your world, don’t always emerge from some giant event. Sometimes, they come from the lady down the street in your small Oregon logging town. You fall off your bike in front of her house and she runs out to collect you and call your mom. While she’s getting you a popsicle, you stand in the entry, amazed. You know you shouldn’t touch it, shining and fuzzy and stretching to the ceiling in a beautiful pattern. More beautiful than when your mom puts on her eyelashes, more beautiful than your best green rock. You touch it gently, quickly, you can hear her coming back. Flocked wallpaper, gold and white and glittering in a beige little place.

“Mom… Mrs. Alexander’s house is so beautiful. Why is ours so ugly?” Your mom snaps her head: “She’s just, fancy.”

And you know, from your unheard whisper…. “I’m fancy too.”

So here’s to you Mrs. Alexander: grown-up, sophisticated, one-of-a-kind wherever you are. Thank you.