Happy birthday to me!
This writeup is two days late. Twenty-nine years ago yesterday I decided to be early for once in my life. I found the experience so traumatic, I resolved to never do so again.
However, the day before that only three years ago I made sure my soon to be ex-wife was on time for once, moving her and her stuff out of what had up until then been our house and into her own. On the same day, at my insane ex-wife's insistance, a new roommate moved in with me. The same one that had lived with us until approximately a year before - Cheri. However, we were both somewhat uncertain as to how we'd get along on our own.
That night my new roommate and I went shopping together for the first time. Whereas my ex-wife would take three hours to shop for a single stick of celery, Cheri and I made it in and out of the store with a cart full of groceries in under 20 minutes. I felt dazed by the speed.
Since that left us with an extra two hours and forty mintues to kill, we went to the video store where I caught sight of a lone DVD of Dead Alive waiting for me on a shelf. "Oh yeah!", I said as I picked it up, remembering how I laughed until I cried when I saw it in the theater. I turned to the woman next to me, expecting to look down into the hard eyes of that bitch, instead finding myself looking at breasts in a sweater. I quickly raised my eyes to look straight ahead into the amused and inquisitive eyes of my old friend and new roommate, and, slightly embarrased but still happy, I suddenly couldn't find words. Left otherwise defenseless, I held the box up in front of my grinning mug for her inspection.
On recognizing it, she said, "Oh, absolutely, yes!" and smiled wide as well.
And at that moment we both realized, with complete certainty, we would get along just fine. That's the best early birthday present I can remember.
Happy Anniversary, honey! (Only two days late.)