Birthday Wishes

Happy birthday, Dad. You've napped through three decades of family occasions and somehow always knew when it was time to clap. Preternatural. Happy birthday.

Happy birthday, niece. You are going to be very hard to keep up with. I, for one, intend to try anyway.

Happy birthday, Mom. You didn't raise a perfect person, but you raised someone who knows how to pretend to be one. That's parenting.

Happy birthday, sis. Of all the people I could have grown up beside, the universe gave me you. The first person who knew every weird thing about me. The first person who never made me feel weird about any of it. I'll never stop being grateful for the assignment , for the random, holy accident of growing up beside you. Happy birthday, my first and forever friend.

Forty, Uncle. The years suit you the way the family suits you , perfectly, easily, like you've been doing it your whole life. Happy 40th.

Sixteen, my girl. Today the world is yours to explore , but you'll always have a home that's already yours. Be bold. Be kind. Be patient with the version of yourself you're still becoming. Whatever this year asks of you, we are behind you, every step. Happy 16th.

Happy birthday, my love. You are unreasonably good at most things, and it has made me both a better person and a slightly more self-conscious one. Worth it.

Happy birthday, friend. The universe lined us up somewhere along the way, and I'm still grateful it did.

Happy birthday, Grandpa. The older we get, the more we understand how much of who we are started with you. The work ethic. The quiet humor. The way you loved without making speeches about it. We didn't always know we were learning, but we were. Today we just want to sit a while with that. To thank you, plainly, for everything. Happy birthday.