DLD...This seems like the perfect time for a Bor story.

My friends, when I had friends in the "real" world, were the outcasts of teen social life. And even amongst the outcasts, I was an outcast. I just never really fit. A large portion of that was because my family was monstrously dysfunctional, and theirs were...well, better than mine.

I was the eldest among them, and when my 19th birthday arrived, it was a nightmare. You see, my family actually went out of their way to IGNORE my birthday. They didn't even say the words, "Happy birthday." And after an entire day rolled by, I asked my mother (talk about a wrong choice of person to ask) if anyone had forgotten. That's when I was told, in these exact words, "No, we didn't forget. We ignored it." One expects friends to forget. One can even expect a few family members to forget. But one's parents to actually IGNORE one's birthday?

So I sought my friends, and there was no hiding the depressive slump I was in. I told them what transpired, and they gave me...a blonde! Kathy was 16 and beautiful. Put her in a bikini and a pool, and you can bet that I'd come running...and I did. The others, claiming they wanted to do something indoors for a bit, left us to our own designs. Said designs included much swimming and harmless flirting.

With my eyes on the girl, I completely missed her receiving a signal. She suggested we join the others inside. We stepped through the hourse's back door...and the crowd of outcasts shouted, "SURPRISE!" Yes, they'd used the attractive female to distract me while they ran out to get an ice cream cake and throw an impromptu party for me.

Now, this isn't to say that the people in your life socially will do such a thing. No, the message here is that you sometimes have to look for the good things in life. Sometimes they find you, and you should treasure those moments the most when they do. And the ones you have to find? You treasure those too.