Birthday Wishes

Happy birthday, sis. I love you in a way I can't explain, mostly because I've never had to.

Happy birthday, my love. I have learned that the right man can make you feel like the smartest person in the room even when he knows you aren't. That's not manipulation, that's love.

Eighteen, my niece. Today the world stops asking permission of you and starts asking opinions instead. You've got good ones. Trust them. Happy 18th.

Happy birthday, niece. The day you figured out that you didn't have to do things just because someone older said so was the day I started respecting you most. Keep that.

Happy birthday, Grandma. Long before I knew the world was hard, you taught me it was also full of small, lit windows. You were the first one.

Twenty-one, sis. The world is opening up , go meet it on your terms, the way you've always done. Just remember to call home sometimes. Happy 21st.

Happy birthday, my girl. You have made me reconsider several of my life positions, update three of my opinions, and improve as a person at an age when most people have stopped trying. You are an expensive but effective life coach.

Happy birthday, Grandpa. You've watched this whole family try to figure out what you figured out thirty years ago. You've never once said 'I told you so.' That level of restraint deserves its own holiday.

Happy 50th, Dad. Half a century of being the loudest guy in the room when he's not talking. You've got the quiet authority of a man who has simply outlasted every argument he's ever had, and honestly? It's become your whole personality. We love it. Happy 50th.

Happy birthday, my love. Every year you get more beautiful and every year I get more inexplicably lucky. Statistically this ends at some point. I'm riding it out.