On October 5, my countdown began: 30 days until my 30th birthday. In honor of this, on each of the 30 days leading up to my birthday I will recount one memory from the past 30 years… either one that has helped define me, one that makes me laugh, one that makes me think, one that encourages me…  or maybe a little of everything. If possible, I will post a photo to go along with the memory.

It’s my 30/30/30 Project: 30 years. 30 memories. 30 days.

Here is my memory for Day #18:

My oldest brother started dating Nicole, who is now his wife, when I was 13 years old. She was a senior in college at the time, and soon after she graduated she moved to NYC for a job.

My brother was living at home with us at the time, and most weekends he was away… in NYC, visiting Nicole.

About six months after moving to NYC, she came back to RI (sound familiar?) when her company had a huge round of layoffs. I was excited for Nicole to move back because it meant I’d see her more often.

Moving back meant she’d have to find a new job and a new place to live. While she was doing both of those things, she lived with us. It was only temporarily – two weeks or so – but it was fun to have her around all the time.

I remember her and my brother going to the library to research the company she had an interview with, as this was before the Internet had that kind of information readily available. She wanted to be able to go into the interview with as much knowledge about the company as possible. (Nicole is a rock star businesswoman… this is why I always go to her for professional advice!)

She, of course, nailed the interview and got the job. She was still living with us for her first day on the job, and I remember wanting to give her a “good luck” send-off. So, I took out a piece of colored paper, wrote her a good luck message, and had Mom, Dad and Audrey sign it, too.

Nicole now works at our family business with my dad and two brothers, and when the company moved to a new location in 2003, so did everything that had been in the previous location of the business… including my little message to Nicole.

I had forgotten all about that little message until I saw it again all those years later. Nicole said she had hung it up on her desk at that first job… and then she had taken it with her when she left that job for her next one, and after that, to the one she’s at now. It has traveled with Nicole for 16 years!

I love that this simple little heart-felt message has been so meaningful to someone I love so much.