Secret Birthday Wishes

My 36th birthday wish was to marry her some day.

So was my 37th birthday wish.  I bought a ring that year.

I did not change the wish for my 38th birthday.  I learned later that year she had no desire to re-marry.

I gave her the ring the following year for Valentine’s under the guise that it was a symbol of how much she meant to me.  It wasn’t a complete lie.

My 39th birthday wish was to spend the rest of my life with her.

I always blew out all the candles in a single breath.

She left me Monday.  Next week would have been our 4-year anniversary.

Stupid superstitions.

There Just Ain’t Enough Alcohol

…to make the pain go away.  Lord knows I’m tryin’.