Bert-day, Bert-day

Happy birthday to my good friend Valerie who is…29 today. I won’t reveal her real age, but let’s just say she’s only a couple of months younger than I. Valerie and I met in 1984 when we both worked for Town and County Clothiers in the Battlefield Mall. It was not friendship at first sight. She thought I was a complete nerd and I thought she was a wild party animal. These first impressions were all due to our hairstyles. I styled mine with a vent brush and had the 80s wings, and she had a spiky, punkish ‘do that was frosted. In reality, I was spending my weekends drinking and partying at the frat houses while she lived at home under the watchful eye of her mother.

I have no idea what the turning point was in our relationship, but we became friends and have been that way ever since. I love her sense of humor, her style, her musical taste and her opinionated ways. Through thick and thin, we’ve remained friends and I can’t imagine my life without her. Happy Bert-day, Jot! Love, Tammy (the coolest).