Toasting Cissy's 65th birthday

     Cissy would have turned 65 yesterday. It was the first time in our long years of friendship I didn’t take her out to dinner to celebrate.
     I still can’t believe she’s gone.
     I didn’t know what to do to mark the occasion, so on the way home from work I stopped at a Derry liquor store and bought some Maker’s Mark, her favorite brand of whiskey.
     Then when I got home, Rick and I lit a candle in front of a photo of her, me and another friend, Beth, got out some Kentucky Derby shot glasses we had won at one or another of her many Derby parties, poured ourselves a shot, toasted her and drank.
     It was nasty good.
     This Saturday, on Kentucky Derby Day, when we would all be at her house partying if the world had not changed so dramatically and impossibly three weeks ago, we may do the same.
     Hope you’ll join us.