And February Made Me Shiver...With Every Paper I'd Deliver

So today, February 3, is the Day the Music Died, immortalized by the great Don Mclean song "American Pie." The song is a kaleidoscopic view of the 60s, but begins with the tale of the Winter plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens.

But for my family, it has far more significance: it's the Day D2 was born! And that was 27 years ago, but ah yes, I remember it well.

The day before was a Sunday, and we gathered at Eric's parents' house. They were having a 1st birthday party for Jennifer, and Eric and Dana had their little girl in Miami for the festivities. It's funny -- we took a picture with three year old D1 there -- she was playing with another adorable girl who was 2 named Marissa, the daughter of some Jewban friends. Years later (at D2's college graduation dinner at Embers), we would run into Ilisa and Richard, in Hogtown for another friend's graduation, and they'd tell us that their boy's girlfriend was finishing up a Master's in Dietetics at Columbia -- would D1 talk to her? She would, and they became close, and a few weeks ago D1 and Joey attended Marissa's wedding to Ilisa and Richard's boy. It was a connection over the decades started the day before D2 was born.

Anyway -- back to the Monday of the 3rd. We drove to South Miami Hospital, and Dr. Kenward did a planned C section. D2 was sprung. I held her and fell in love. We brought D1 to the hospital and introduced her to her baby sister. She kissed her head. Her best friend for life had joined the band.

Wifey recovered far faster than she did from D1's C section, which was not planned, but came after a full day of labor. It was a happy homecoming, to a lovely house in Kendall, filled with dogs, who accepted D2 into their pack, as they had with her sister. There was little chance D2 would grow up not loving dogs -- and she did not. She loves them, and a favorite family activity for all of us is sharing photos from all over the world of cute or enormous dogs.

And today D2 is 27. She's got it, in the vernacular, all going on. She has a Master's degree in Business from UF. She lives in a funky apartment in Greenwich Village, the one part of NYC where I always wanted to live. She has a job in Jersey. And most importantly, she followed the crucial lessons we tried to teach -- choosing a life partner is the one truly critical thing you can do. And she picked one awesome young man -- a tall, red headed, Venezuelan born Jewish guy. We adore him. They will be married within a year.

So nearly three decades have flown by. We're hosting Wifey's BFF Edna and her husband Marc, and last night, after Big Cheese pizza, we were remembering the Fall of '17. Days after D1's marriage to Joey, we were fleeing to Atlanta, from the wrath of Hurricane Irma. Wifey was sick with an awful virus, and Joey had a health scare. We packed a lot of living into those next few weeks, but came through well, thanks to our support and love.

D2 and Jonathan have many challenges, too. And they'll get through them with the love of all of us, as well. Maybe it's possible to go through this life without close friends and family. I haven't figured out how, or more importantly, why one would care to.

But for today, though were over a thousand miles away, we celebrate D2, a beautiful and accomplished and very funny young woman.

Rock on, D2!