Happy Birthday to Meredith!

My amazing baby sister is 30 years old as of June 27th! YIKES! As you know, she lives in Thailand working with refugees from Burma, so I could not give her a big b-day sqeeze, but Skype is a truly fabulous invention. With our Web cams, we can "call" on Skype for free and see each other as we chat. I recounted my always fascinating stories about lost teeth, crawling and fairy ballet recitals. In turn, Meredith modestly shares exploits from her trip to Kampala, Uganda, where she presented at a conference for non-governmental orgs (NGOs) working in conflict areas. She updated me on the kittens born to her trampy cat Ava, who had a litter fathered by two different males (that cat gets around). The two one-eyed kittens are still around (others have homes already), and they squirm around on her desk as we talk. Her work and her life humble me. I am immensely proud of her accomplishments. Who would have thought that the girl with braces and glasses who drove me crazy in the backseat of our poo-poo brown station wagon would do such important things and touch so many lives?! I say that, but the honest truth is that her choices do not surprise me in the least, as she is perhaps the most kind and intelligent and self-less woman I know. So, happy birthday, Meredith! I love you!