VIRGINIA 

For someone I’ve only met once, I feel as if I’ve known Virginia for ages. We first “met” in 1998 on a web bulletin board, where she was firmly established as a board goddess for her deathly funny and always amusing posts. I knew her only from her writing, which turns out to be a fitting way to know her. With her amazing talent for both poetry and prose she can write dodecagons around us mere mortals. Kindness and optimism shine through her words, even as she decries an injustice or conveys a personal heartache. She is someone you want to hug and sit with over a steaming pot of tea and talk with for hours. 

When we finally got a chance to hug in 2006, we started in talking as old friends. I wish I lived closer to her since she is exactly the kind of person I want in my life: fun, opinionated, creative, crazy, kind and full of hope. She brings me joy with her poems, her travel exploits, the teeny cork fairies she knit for my children, her carefully penned letters, her very being. 

Happy Birthday Wonderful You!