my birthday. It was almost surreal. I’ve often thought of him and call him on all of our birthdays. I find it shocking that he will be turning eighteen this year.

I had moved away from home after just seventeen birthdays. I celebrated my eighteenth in a new town with a new boyfriend. He took me out to Pappasito’s and ordered fajitas for me. He even ordered me a fancy Mexican dessert because he knew I’d like it. I ended up marrying this boyfriend. The fajitas really won me over, I guess.

My twenty-third was one of my happier birthdays. I had been feeling lonely after my separation and my dad showed up from another city and took me out for a fancy dinner. I really appreciated the gesture. He always seems to find a way to make me feel good. He offered to move me back to my hometown, but I refused.

By the time I had my thirtieth birthday, I didn’t think it was possible to surprise me anymore. I was wrong. I was surprised with a trip to the Juicy Pig. I had a wonderful meal for breakfast that day. The cook that made my food was originally from Germany and was now the cook at this great tiny diner. My current husband was my boyfriend back then and I remember that he planned a nice day for me.

I am actually dreading my upcoming thirty fifth birthday. It is such a milestone birthday. There have been very few birthdays where I’ve thought about them as lines of demarcation. I can look back and see that some of them were in fact turning points in my life. I actually want my thirty fifth to be one of the more uneventful birthdays.