[ellen]

You've been an important, essential part of my life for a good long while now, ever since I convinced my French teacher in our rural North Carolina high school forty some years ago that we should listen to you in class and learn "Nous Vivons Ensemble" - and I convinced her we should attend your concert at Wake Forest University forty miles away.

As the years passed I heard you sing in concert when I was away at university, but rarely after as life got busy and burdens heavy. Always though, your words and music filled my ears, caught my imagination, and danced in my dreams through times of heartbreak and joy. It was my constant companion, especially in recent years when I needed the memory of summertime dreams to chase away the shadows.

The last 2-3 years have allowed more opportunities to hear you in person. As much as I love the beauty of the music you make, I admire and appreciate the strength, discipline, determination, and solid work ethic you bring to your effort. I'm glad you still love the work.

So I wish you the happiest of birthdays, and hope you will continue to find satisfaction in your work and your life in all the years to come. I hope you have some sense of what you and your music mean to so many of us. Our lives are much the richer for the poetry you sing us.

Thank you.
ellen