(Many thanks once again to EffinEffie for her editing!)

Most of the time I can fake being an extrovert. I’ve taught Computer training classes, run meetings overflowing with angry men, given technical presentations to roomfuls of cold-eyed strangers. Difficult? Yes, but it got easier with practice.

That’s professional stuff; in our personal lives we “innies” find it even harder to make friends. You can’t bluff people into liking you, impress them with your supposed intellectual prowess, or conquer them with false confidence. I can, however, make inappropriate remarks, miss cues, screw up names, and when really nervous babble like a broken tap. Extroverts seem to have it much easier; they like themselves and don’t care if others agree or not – which somehow makes everyone like them!

But pity me not! What I lack in quantity is more than made up for by a few really good friends. One of them (my lovely model) has been my friend for more years than we can believe. We met in High School, and knew right away we were “kindred spirits.” We understand each other, we don’t take offense at imagined slights, and, no matter how long it’s been, can always begin yakking as if the conversation never stopped. We can count on each other for sympathy in the bad times, and for applause in the good times.

People like my friend aren’t easy to find, for anyone, even harder for the “innies.” Hopefully we have many more good times ahead of us!

Chrysanthemum, the longer version of Dahlia, was made for someone very dear to me, for a “significant” birthday… I thought you might want to make one, too.