A child of bright impetuosity and irresistible charm, you born today run headlong into life as if there is no tomorrow, forever understanding—and forgiving—irony. Flashing eyes and a gut-rumbling laugh set you apart from your peers, a group composed of individuals either eager to make your friendship or keen to be like and be liked by (and in some case, to be) you. Who could blame them? (But that’s another story, better saved for more expansive fare.)
You, however, are unmatched, your fierce determination and stalwart loyalty broken only when betrayal—an inevitable fact in the life of every strong personality—from others demands.
A devoted mother, daughter, sister and friend, you born today are vibrant, giving and passionate; a true risk-taker. You love and loathe with equal ardour, justifiably, because you cannot bear to see an injustice cloud the lives of the people you love.
The hallmark of your character—your courage—is unrivalled, and this in a world filled with brave, gritty individuals. Armed with humour and uncanny perception, you march forward into life, undaunted by the troubles that beset you, your fearless tenacity stunning by everyday comparison.
When family and friends remember you, they conjure up a mix of Pollyanna, Joan of Arc, Annie Oakley and Madeline Kahn, your laughter ringing eternally in the hearts of everyone you touch (namely, everyone you meet), your sharing, happy nature infecting the world around you.
No one loved as well as you loved. No one is loved or missed more.
Your loss, our loss of you, will remain unsurpassed.
Happy birthday forever, you born today.
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley (1849-1903)
