10th Anniversary of my 20th Birthday

As I quickly approach a major milestone in my life, making it past my 29th year and all, I thought I'd share a piece of history.  If you've known me long enough to know some of my past, you know why I dislike New Year's Eve. Yes, I dislike all the hub ub of spending a bunch of money on the first night of the year, yes, I dislike couple-centric holidays that make single people feel like festering piles of loser, and yes, I have some tainted history with the holiday.  On January 1, 2001 at approximately 2:13 in the morning, I was with my BFF Julie, sitting in the Co-op parking lot at the T intersection in Ossian, trying to figure out why my lights weren't working.  There was a short in the fuse, but we wouldn't find that out until the next day when my dad dropped me back off there on our way home from the Winneshiek County jail.  Officer Felton, my DARE officer of 5th grade, found Julie and I there, snacking on Munchos and other Kwik Star fare, flickering my lights, an SOS call of sorts I guess you could say...well, I was a little under the influence, and he was uninterested in letting me walk home thru the cornfield to my parent's house that was lit up like a Christmas tree. I even pointed it out to him. He wasn't having it. I think he was still kicking himself for just giving me a warning when he pulled me over for passing a school bus with it's lights on a few years earlier.  Long story short, I made a mistake. I spent the night in jail, and the following 6 months without a license and a serious constant guilt trip from my unimpressed, let down mother.  Which brings us to my birthday.  Below you'll find the poem she wrote me for my 20th birthday.  Coincidence of the current day nearly 10 years later, is that I will (hopefully) be moving soon, and living amongst unpacked boxes. This is why you should save your birthday cards, kids...they will bring you more enjoyment when you find them 10 years later. Love you, Mom!