This cake day message is going to get a little personal and long.

Today is Ezmerelda’s cake day. It is her tenth AQversary! I was hoping she might be celebrating her thousandth find by now, but that isn’t high on her priorities right now. Maybe soon she will get there. Maybe we will need to plan another day of boxing here soon. Anyway, I’ve been waiting for this day to come around for a year or better to thank her.

Many already know that Ezmerelda is my cousin, but her and I are close like sisters. I’m an only child, and in the eighties and nineties, my parents and I would take a cousin on trips. In the nineties, Ezmerelda was usually the cousin going on these trips with us; twice to Cedar Point and once to Kings Island. She would sometimes visit for a sleepover with my friends.

In 2001, she married her first husband. At one point during the reception, I started crying. I don’t recall ever revealing the reason why I was crying at the reception. People near me were noticing the small waterfall happening on my face and thought it was due to the gushy music. That wasn’t it.

Recently, she invited me to go on a trip with her family to Missouri for the Total Eclipse event. On the way there, I recalled the reason why I cried at her first wedding. It was because at the time, I didn’t think we would go on any more trips again. She was moving on with her life, and it probably didn’t include spending time with her cousin. I was thinking about that day on the way to or from the eclipse event and thought to myself, “Well, I was wrong and worrying over nothing about that.”

We did things here and there over the years, but since she told me about letterboxing, we have had so much fun and so many more adventures.

In my early days in this hobby, I wished she had told me about it in 2007. Ten months before I started letterboxing, Tom and I traveled to both sides of the country. I would’ve picked up my first NC box in 2008 or grabbed some in California, Iowa, and the states in-between those.

However, ten months after those trips in 2008, I was not in a good place. Ezmerelda knew what was going on at that time in 2009. She probably saw that I needed to get out and do something. No, she knew.

So, one day, while I was editing Wikipedia, she told me about letterboxing and sent me the LbNA link. Less than two weeks later, she got me out on the trail. I was walking around with a cold and a broken arm on the trails, but had so much fun. Ezmerelda gave me the light I needed. She gave me the idea that lead me to my therapy, my escape. She showed me this magical world.

Here she is doing that again. She knows what I’ve been trying to work through with since the beginning of the year. She has learned about stuff I have kept quiet about for the past decade-ish.

Her and her husband have been trying to show me another way to escape my anxieties with some boxing and some other fun adventures.

My cousin has a great heart. She is wonderful human being. Friends, please show her some hugs.

Thank you so much, Carrie. You introduced me to this awesome hobby. This hobby has lead us to meet some interesting people, from letterboxers to unique people in cemeteries. You may not post a lot to AQ. You may not get to a lot of events, but you belong here. Many, many hugs to you, Care!

By the way, we need to plan another letterboxing trip. We should go see a concert, too. I don’t really count seeing TLC perform Waterfalls from our perch on the Kings Island Eiffel Tower as an attended concert, but it is a wonderful memory. Thank you for helping me to create more over the years! Thank you so much.

Thank you, Paula, for making me cry!

When I first went letterboxing in 2007, I had no clue what I was doing or that I would love it like I do. When I introduced you to the hobby, I was going through a depressing time myself. I'm not one to share my feelings very easily. I'm quiet and pretend everything is fine when I'm around others. Letterboxing slowly became my favorite thing to do. It was an escape. It allowed me to feel happy and excited for short periods of time, while really I was trying not to fall apart.

I was hoping I'd have that 1000th find by now as well, but oh well. I still love it just as much, but my hobby has to take a backseat to other things, and I am completely okay with that. I still like to try to find at least one box a month if I can.

You have always been like a sister to me. I love you! I know we don't always agree on everything, but I will always be there for you and I know you will for me as well. Some of my best childhood memories involve you. Some of my best adult memories do too. We'll always have adventures. I can't sit still for too long. Spontaneous trips to who knows where are great times. We had fun times this year for sure. Floating down the river in a tube while doing the Cha Cha Slide is one memory I will remember forever lol.

What a sweet tribute to your cousin, Paula! Ezmerelda, I don't think we've ever had the pleasure of meeting, but you sound like a fabulous person.

Both of you mentioned letterboxing as an escape, and that resonates with me. I'm always up for a boxing outing, but the urge becomes especially strong when real life isn't going exactly the way I'd like it to. And what a healthy escape it is, one that involves friends, creativity, nature, and exercise.

Box on!

You're welcome. I've been planning to post something like this for a year, but not sure if it was going to be that wordy. Enjoy your cake day, cuz.

Thank you.
Unfortunately, letterboxing has been on the decline for me. I do need to remedy that. Maybe it will help.

What a lovely message and wonderful memories you shared. I hope you are both able to make many more memories together.

Thank you! I hope so, too.

I'm sure we will! We have to find lots of your boxes yet😊

Happy cake day Ezmerelda! Damp eyes first thing in the morning, sheesh!

What an awesome tribute, Paula! Happy Cake Day Ezmerelda! It was nice to meet you in Missouri!

Thank you, and happy cake day to you, BaliWho!
Thanks for the event called Creepy Crawlie.
It was fun to see you at other events too, Bali!
Now, today, I hope you found a stamp or two.
And celebrated in your own special way or with a woohoo!

Happy Cake Day, Bali!

Happy cake day, BaliWho; hope it was the best day.

Yes, absolutely......Happy AQ Day to you! Hope you enjoyed your special day!

Awww thanks everyone! Great poem. KoalaCat!