Fantastic time at Michele and Miriam's in Urbana last night to celebrate Michele's 35th birthday. I'm so glad that her and I have stayed fairly close even though she's in Urbana and I'm here. She's one of the few friends I have that is near my age. It's so amazing to me that I can be such good friends with people who are so different than me. Michele has experienced the world; she's 10 years older than I am. Ten years isn't that much, I know, but she has done so many more things than I will do in the next 10 years. She's so open-minded and receptive even though I am a young and naive idiot. I feel as though I have nothing to offer, but she's one of my best friends. It's cool.

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