I walked out of Jazz Ensemble class to find my office filled with balloons. My great friend and colleague Bill Miller brought me breakfast and then bought the whole department pizza lunch to help celebrate. Symphonic Band - to my surprise - started singing Happy Birthday when I dropped the baton for our warm up. And Wind Ensemble gave me a beautifully decorated/personalized iPad case with a nice new 'saying'.
Coming back home from a nearly 17 hour day at DGN, and then reading the birthday wishes posted on my Facebook wall, was such a humbling experience. All I could think as I read them (every one of the 200+ posts) was, "Wow, how did I get to be so lucky?" Whether one of my Columbia friends, NU or Michigan friends, professional mentors, colleague-heros, recent students, students from decades-gone-by, friends from music exchanges on the other side of the planet ... every wish was read and received with genuine appreciation tonight.
I'm very blessed and thankful for wonderful family and friends.
