(no subject)

Wow. Thank you, everyone, for your good wishes and birthday greetings. It's been a mixed day, and you've certainly helped tip the scales heavily toward the good, so I'll forgive you for making me bawl like an infant while you were at it.

Carol, you amaze me... and that painting is incredible. Even more incredible is that you remembered that flight of fancy, and that it inspired... that. I'm awed. And sad, too... I haven't fully lived up to those words, haven't truly been that person, in awhile. Thank you for reminding me.

rare, katling, Lisa, Ken... I can't tell you how much your words meant to me. Ken, if I could have picked the one thing anyone could have said to me that was absolutely certain to reduce me to tears, well, you found it. I sincerely hope that one day, someone will be able to say truthfully of me that the world is better for my having been in it, that I've made some positive difference. But it's the kind of thing one doesn't usually hear about oneself, isn't it? ... so thank you. And thank you, all of you.