Billy Coburn is fifty today! It just does not seem possible. It really was just yesterday when he was ferrying us around to Bruce Springsteen concerts in the mid-seventies. I just phoned him to wish him many happy returns and I think he was floored, and happy to hear from me. He thanked me for remembering him. How could I forget? We idolized him when we were young, and we’ve had some great times during our adulthood.


The Coburn family has meant a lot to me over the years. Kathy was my high school soul mate and is still one of my best friends. Peggy and I are as close as ever. There are seven children in that family and I love them all. We’ve been through a lot together over the years. Their mom was great to me and I can still get tears in my eyes thinking of her and all the wonderful times I had around their dinner table. I was her “sixth daughter” she used to say, and I was happy with that categorization. She could be caustic as hell, but one of the most generous and loving people I have ever know. When she died, I truly mourned. With the exception of my dad and grandparents, her death rocked me the most. I love the Coburn gang. Along with John Joyce, they’ve been along for the ride the past thirty years or so. We have been through good times and bad, but they all were always there for me. There’s a lot to be said for lifelong friends, for people who’ve lived through your history, and shared in the happy and sad moments. We lost our fathers almost a year to the day of each other and we bonded even more after that. I remember them all being there the day of my father’s funeral. It meant a lot to share my grief with them, who so recently felt some similar. As I said, they are special.

Happy Birthday Billy!