Shannon Liu Nee Mullis -- I hardly know where to start with these two! :>

Editor's Note:  Life always sweeter with Shannon!

Happy 40^th birthday, my dear superhero friend. I am not sure how we arrived in mid-life, but I am so thankful my journey has included you. We’ve known each other over half our lives, and while only a small portion of that was spent in the same place, your friendship is among those I count most dear. Our conversations, many of them too late at night, have shaped me, supported me, “heard me,” and challenged me. Although distance, kids, and life in general have made those conversations far too few these days, I hope you know that you are deeply loved.

You are the kind of friend I could conspire with in spying and “file-keeping,” could laugh with while playing the grocery store game (“please nothing perishable, like eggs, or things that can’t be put back, like from the deli”), could fight with during rounds of Taboo, could talk with until the early morning hours, and could confide in about everything from silly crushes to life’s great disappointments and struggles.

In honor of this auspicious occasion, I was reminiscing about birthdays spent with you - some that went well, and others that were, shall we say, well-intentioned. I have included pictures of a birthday well-celebrated – the great Super Sarah Extravaganza of 1994, complete with a Super Sarah costume and Keith Green boxed set CDs. I’ve chosen not to dwell on the years I filled your car with balloons, causing you to be late to some very important event; stole your CDs to make you a special mixed CD for your drive home (I’m sure I still owe you for the psychological trauma); and the surprise party at Denny’s when I lied to you, pulled you out of bed and insulted you in hopes that you would arrive in a presentable fashion. (“Sarah, please put in your contacts, I hate your glasses.”)

In college I made a scrapbook page about saying goodbye as you graduated early and headed off to France. I included three quotes on that page. I find they are still a true reflection of the kind of friend you have been.

“It is the friends that you can call up at 4:00 AM that matter.” – Marlene Dietrich

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.” – Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

Thanks for being that kind of friend to me, Sarah. Thanks for making road trips to Bedford and Wilmore and for making it worth every moment in the car to Oshkosh or Champaign for a visit with you. Thanks for loving me well in all my imperfections, for forgiving me when I’ve been less than a good friend, and for the blessing of being someone with whom I could be both serious and silly, with whom I could safely be myself. My life is richer because of you.

I love you. Shannon

Editor's Note:  Never before meeting Sarah and her friend Shannon have I seen such elaborately planned hi-jinks.  As boyfriend, male pursuant, I had to work verrry hard to compete with SHANNON'S creativity.  Yes, all the "Super-Sarah" regalia made by Shannon.

Editor's Note:  What?! A cape with insignia?  Shannon!

Editor's Note:  Do not be fooled by the docile, Nazarene-school smiles.....These two are quite capable of minutely planned shenanigans.  Or should I say, "Shannonigans"!  Great friends! Great laughs!