Friends Believe in Each Other

Saturday night, some friends threw a party to celebrate my first poem being accepted for publication. Writers throw book parties or have post-reading get-togethers, but I have never ever heard of a party for a poem. I was skeptical and mildly embarrassed. I mean, after all this fuss over my first published poem, what if it proves to be my last? What will I say when all the gracious well-wishers find me sleeping in a box under the freeway using my first and last published poem as a blanket? "Thanks for that congratulatory beer back in '09. ...How 'bout buying a pity brew for old times' sake?"

Still, having thrown parties with flimsier premises (State of the Union address drinking games, prime number birthdays- the list goes on), I would be a hypocrite to poop this one. If I am called upon to be an excuse for a party, I would be a sorry friend not to report to duty. Several people even drove in from out of town, and we caroused* from 6 p.m. until, um, 2 a.m., I think. The details are blurry, alas, but these truths from the evening are clear:

Friends don't flatter; friends push you, because they know you are capable of more. Friends don't associate themselves with you for their own gain when you succeed; friends say "I told you you'd pull it off" and buy you a drink. Friends are not jealous of your success; friends revel in it as if it were their very own. And I have some effin awesome friends.

Feel free to shout out to the friends who have believed in you here. I just added sharing options in the sidebar, so they can see your adoring comments. Still working on getting the sharing options at the bottom of each individual post.

*Awesome Germanic etymology for my linguist peeps.