Member-only story
It’s My Birthday
And I finally don’t have to cry anymore
It’s my friend Tina’s birthday and we are in New York City celebrating our October sisterhood. Two besties, two birthdays.
But tears are streaming down my face.
Only in the Big Apple could a woman crying in a restaurant go unnoticed.
The lights are city-chic and appropriately dimmed.
I sit next to Tina’s husband who is my childhood friend. A man confident enough to treat a woman well. He believes birthdays are a reason to celebrate love. The older I get the more I admire him.
But at this moment, he knows not what to do.
Does he challenge a man he now calls friend? Does he sit quietly and let us resolve this conflict? There’s awkwardness but my bullish husband prevails with his bullying demeanor.
My friends attempt to keep the peace not wanting to upset me further.
Nor ruin Tina’s birthday any more than my husband already is.
This is symbolic of nearly every birthday with my husband.
They are routinely met with brut force or neglect.
Years earlier, newly married, I open the door to my sister. She has driven an hour to see me. The memory reduces me to tears as she loved me…
