Happy 40th Birthday, Kat — My Favorite Accidental Victim of Friendship
Some friendships in life happen naturally. Others… you have to stalk into existence.
Kat was my target in January of 2020. We were both living in Vegas, our kids went to the same school, and we ended up counting money for a school fundraiser together. That’s when she made the fatal mistake of giving me her number.
I texted her right away. She didn’t know it yet, but she had no choice but to be my friend.
Our first “date” was Mexican food. By the end of the bottomless chips and Diet Coke, we were basically best friends, whether she wanted that title or not. From then on it was dinners, movies, playdates—our kids bonding as fast as we did.
Then came the twist: being best friends with someone married to the military means goodbye hugs happen sooner than you want. Kat moved across the world, but we made it work. A year or so ago she moved back, only we are on different coasts, not able to see each other and continuing our weekly phone dates. FaceTimes. Constant texts. And in March of this year I flew across this county , when we finally reunited, it felt like zero time had passed—except now we miss each other even more! Counting down to the next time we see each other!
Kat is the calm to my chaos, the Southern Belle to my “probably shouldn’t say that out loud.” Beth Dutton, She’s kind, compassionate, and endlessly patient—three traits I definitely did not lure her in with. I wouldn’t be who I am today without her, and I never want to live in a world she’s not in. I know she is my 8 minutes, and when I text her our "code" she texts me back with out fail.
So, happy 40th, Kat. Here’s to more decades of girls nights, sitting on the couch scrolling social media together, Girls trips, Diet Coke, and the kind of friendship you can’t buy… only stalk.
I love you with all my heart. Happy Birthday!
