Hap­py Birth­day, Avery

It’s hap­pened: Avery is a teenag­er. Yes­ter­day was the big day, and I must say I scru­ti­nized her close­ly this after­noon when she returned from school, and dare I say it? She’s just the same. Love­ly and loy­al, friend­ly and stead­fast, enter­tain­ing and intel­li­gent, alto­geth­er some­one we are thor­ough­ly proud to call our own.

We spent the after­noon at Fort­num and Mason for ice cream, then a friend came home with her to do home­work (out­ra­geous­ly, the school staff did not hon­or her birth­day by with­hold­ing any assign­ments), then the request­ed birth­day din­ner: creamy red pep­per soup, and riga­toni with a sauce of toma­toes, ricot­ta and pine nuts. Presents galore, most­ly books! And charms for her bracelet, and a gor­geous vel­vet skirt from my par­ents… today a love­ly out­fit arrived from my sis­ter and her fam­i­ly, so she’s thor­ough­ly kit­ted out now, in appro­pri­ate­ly fes­tive, 13-year-old-friend­ly wear.

I spent all day yes­ter­day in my usu­al Avery-birth­day fog. I remem­bered all day where I was 13 years ago, des­per­ate­ly walk­ing the island of Man­hat­tan, try­ing to get used to labor pains and avoid­ing the hos­pi­tal like it was the sev­enth cir­cle of hell (it came pret­ty close, even­tu­al­ly). Final­ly pick­ing up that suit­case with one tiny out­fit and my tooth­brush and tooth­paste in it, and bring­ing her home the very next day with guests for din­ner! How lucky we feel to have her. Thank you, dear girl, and here’s to anoth­er warm and won­der­ful year together.