Kelly is so much older than I am

Happy Birthday to my (our) dearest friend, Kelly, who is way older today.  Kelly moved to Florida five months after Darcy was born, and I tell her all the time that she saved my life.  I might have had to take medication if it weren't for Kelly.  We met in the second grade when I moved to Indiana.  She and another classmate were assigned the task of showing me around the elementary school.  Our mothers became friends and, despite the fact that I had moved into her best friend's home, she accepted me into her circle of friends.  We lost contact through the years, but somehow managed to reconnect, and eventually we talked her into moving to Florida.

Kelly is a part of our family, whether she wants it or not.  My mother worries about her as she does her daughter.  My children love her like they do their mother.  My husband counts her as one of his wives.  My niece thinks she is her aunt.  My brother cares for her like he cares for anybody, and my sister-in-law loves her like a sister-in-law.  And me?  I just count on her for everything I can't do, for when I need someone to listen, for when I need a cook, for when I'm bored, for when I need someone to pick up my kids, for when I need someone to vacation with, for when I need a proof reader, for when I need pretty much anything.  And she is always there.

We could not live without her.  Happy, happy day to you, Kelly!