41

Remember that night we drove to Charleston for your birthday to get dessert at Kaminsky’s Most Excellent Cafe? We stood on the sidewalk and talked and watched people while we waited for a table, I had the most beautiful woman in the holy city. Once inside, we sat under the painting of the boy and I sang for you all those old Steve Miller songs. Across the table, your eyes shone, your hair was perfect, your hands reached out and your smile warmed. No one could understand why you were with me. You had that fruit goo in a bowl and I had the Famous Brownie Sunday. We both had the house blend of Sumatran and Kenyan. Do you remember waking up the next morning as if the night had never ended, your first breakfast as a 41-year-old taken in the hotel lobby? All my life, I’ve dreamed of waking beside a 41 year-old woman, and today that dream came true.
Even at my best I could never give you the birthday you deserve, could never celebrate you the way you deserve to be celebrated, could never make you see how truly aware I am that not only do I have the most beautiful 41 year-old wife on earth, I have the most beautiful wife on earth. But alas,I am never at my best, and thus, fall even further short of what I desire to give you. But I do desire it, and I promise from the bottom of my heart, to try and go beyond just the day, and make your 42nd year the best of your entire life.
Happy Birthday, my love.