"My Birthday Surprise"
was created especially for

Alice Simpson

Happy Birthday
From Dale and Annette
April 23, 2002

Yes, it was birthday time again, April 23rd. Alice Simpson of Center, Texas, had reached yet another major plateau in her life - age 50.

Alice was a high flier, a born leader, and a woman of many accomplishments. There was no doubt about it - Alice was a legend in her own mind.

Dale and Annette had planned a big birthday bash for Alice this year. Hand-written invitations had been sent to all her friends.

Fortunately for Dale and Annette, the job had been very easy. Only a few invitations had to be written.

Dale and Annette had spent a lot of time developing a theme for this special birthday party. It was

Alice Simpson
The ten keys to success
in your life

Obviously, the theme was a very popular one. The party room was packed.

Dale and Annette started her success story by explaining that the path Alice had followed through life had been met with a series of closed doors. Over the years, judging from the shape of her beak, many of these doors had been slammed in her face.

Despite these setbacks, Alice had still managed to become a success in Center, Texas. It was evident that these ten keys had worked a miracle for Alice.

Alice and the rest of the party group were quiet when Dale and Annette announced the first key to her success.

"Always be full of hot air."

Alice had devoted much of her life to achieving this goal. Those who knew her agreed that she was definitely full of it.

The second key of success was

"Stay young."

Alice maintained her youthful appearance by following a strict exercise program. Her favorite activity seemed to be jogging to the refrigerator.

unfortunately, staying young was difficult after 50 birthday celebrations. In fact, lighting the candles on her birthday cake was considered a fire hazard for Alice and everyone else present at athe party.

Believing that

"No mountain is too hard to climb"

was another component of the success formula for Alice.

Anyone who had ever seen Alice demolish a mountain of ice cream topped with whipped cream and a cherry realized the truth of this statement. She could whittle it down in seconds.

The fourth dey was a critical factor in making Alice the success she is.

"Surround yourself with intelligent, responsible people."

Alice always kept snapshots of her trusted friends in her wallet. Come to think of it, that was about all you could ever find in her wallet!

The excitement of the party had almost been too much for everyone. They decided to briefly interrupt this spell-binding "Success Story" and have Alice open her many gifts.

Nobody had trouble buying Alice a present. After all, what can't you buy for a woman who needs everything?

After watching Alice open her gifts, the anxious crowd was eager to hear the fifth key to her success. It was

Don't be a horse's...behind.

Unfortunately, Alice couldn't help herseld. It was just her nature.

The saga of Alice continued. The next key to her success was

"Enjoy the sweet things in life."

There are many sweet things in life: the presence of a wonderful companion, adventure-filled vacations and lots of money.

Whenever Alice wanted to enjoy sweet things, she went to her pantry. This was the only source of sweet things for Alice.

The seventh key was vitally important for social climbers like Alice:

"Don't forget from whence you came."

On her long climb up the ladder of success, Alice never once forgot her roots. She was so very proud of all her ancestors.

To really be successful, you must

"only play games you can win."

Talented individuals like Alice pride themselves on their athletic and business prowess. Very few adults had ever beaten Alice at any of her favorite games. Everybody knew she would have a temper tantrum if they did.

Alice always maintained that, to be successful, you must

"Picture yourself as you want to be."

Alice thought that once she was successful, her portrait would be hung in the homes of all of her friends.



Dear Alice:

Now you know the ten keys to the success in your life, We had orginally planned to have you say a few words, but we remembered that brevity is not one of your ten keys.



Congratulations on yet another "successful" year. Happy Birthday!

From: Dale and Annette

April 23, 2002

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