At least in my eyes they are. The Gold Standard of LOVE. Growing up as kids in the same neighborhood in a small Ohio town, my dad asked my mom out on a date when she was 15 and he was 16. They were sweeties throughout high school and college and on her 21st birthday, which happens to be New Year's Eve, he proposed. As Dad likes to say, "The rest is history." Indeed. Sixty years of history!

So on this New Year's Eve Mom, I would like to wish you the happiest birthday! You are 81 and so much fun! Your joy and compassion for others is such an inspiration and whether you believe it or not, you touch so many lives, namely mine, in extraordinary ways.

This day is for you!

I love you.