On Your Birthday

Today would have been your 42^nd birthday, Chris. You would have had to stop teasing me with that terrible singsong “old lady” chant of yours for another 10 months until my next birthday, when I would jump ahead again. This is hard. We miss you. Still, we did our best on this first November 17th since you died. We chose to go places we went with you, to be with the people who meant so much to you, and we remembered you and the happy times we had together. We are indeed thankful for the time we had with you, but we can’t help but wish for more. Pictures bring comfort, but there will be no new ones, and that hurts. As I recognize my own growth and evolution over the last year, I wonder about the person you would have become had you been granted the time to age. I can’t help but remember what I told you as you were leaving the world – you did so good, you were so good. I love you.