Today may be a national day of mourning and remembrance, but it is still a day of celebration in one sense, it is my friend Deborah’s birthday.

I “met” Deborah when I started moderating the South Park Digest in 1999. As one of the Digest’s veteran posters even before I joined up, she and I instantly hit it off because of our love for South Park and her interest in my writing, which she still has and I still appreciate to this day.

Through constant e-mails, we would correspond with one another outside of the Digest about South Park, my most recent column – and just general things in our lives. But despite our almost daily contact – we never once met in person or even spoke on the telephone. In fact, the first time I met her in person or even heard her voice was at last year’s South Park Ohio (SPOH) on October 17, 2003. And I could tell that from the moment we met, our friendship was about to grow a lot stronger.

Deborah is an amazingly wise, gifted and deeply spiritual woman. Whether we discuss politics, movie trivia or the love we have for our furry, four-legged children – I could talk to her all night. She is a great listener, an expert on giving advice – and a great person to chat with when you need a good laugh during a crisis at work.

I remember the first day that our conversations became almost daily. It was November 10, 2003 when I got the news that Mary and I were not going to be together. Upset at the time, I needed someone to talk to and called Deborah – even though our friendship was not necessarily at the level to ask her for her ear during such a sad moment in my life. But I called, and she was there – and we have become as close as a brother and sister ever since.

I have only seen her twice. Once at the aforementioned SPOH – and again in February of 2004 at South Park Florida (SPFL). I am very happy to say that I will be seeing her again at SPOH 2004, which is in only five days. How I long to see a friend that is so close to me and cares so much for me – that she woke up this morning on her birthday at 5:30am California time to make sure that she was on the phone with me when the September 11th Ceremony had the first moment of silence at 8:46am – which is the moment the first plane hit Tower #1 – and the moment that Doug was killed. If that does not define friendship, then I do not know what does.

Happy Birthday Deborah. Thank you for your friendship, your advice, your constructive criticism, your ear – and your love. Thanks so much for being there for me through some of my most recent best and recent worst times. Thanks for all of the expert cat advice you gave me for Beavis – and thanks for giving me a reason to still see something positive on September 11th.

All my love Deborah. Happy Birthday.