A letter for your birthday –

I’m grateful that I planned your trip home with the thought that you could be with your family today.  Birthdays seem to be something your parents enjoyed with you around, so I hope your mother cooks your favorite meal and your dad reads you all the good sports articles.

I hope Theo crawls in your lap to kiss you (side benefit in knowing it will piss off your mom) and that you enjoy having him play in the snow and watch the horses.

I know you’re mad and sad and that your birthday is right before Christmas and so that makes this time of year tough.  I know you don’t understand, and I wish I knew how to make you understand.

I miss you, but I know, more than I’ve known anything in a long time, that this is the right move.  That in the long run, we’ll both be better off.  That I’m already happier, and that at some point, you will be too.

But you’re not now, and that’s hard, and I’m sorry.

I hope you find a way to have a happy birthday, without me.