a little glimpse into a conversation between two 5,000 miles apart

"Happy Birthday, love. Are you going to do anything to celebrate?"

"I bought a new calling card and am calling you, Shannon."

"A conversation with me is your birthday present to yourself?"

"Why not?" he replies.

The long-distance relationship

"But how can you stand it--the sadness of being separated all the time?" the girl asked her friend.

"It's true, the goodbyes are terribly hard and make for my least favorite days. But the hellos ... ahhh ... the hellos ... nothing to describe them. The best flavor of ice cream, the warmest blanket, they are."