Today is my friend’s birthday. One she shares with Jessica McClure and Kiera Knightly. Jessica was trapped in a well in Texas and saved by paramedics. Kiera was trapped in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and saved by Atonement. Seems we are all trapped in one way or another, and birthdays offer an escape of sorts, if only for one day.

If there is something special about birthdays it is that they are ours. From the beginning to the end.

On our first day, we set about to determine who and how many will be witness to our last day and whether or not they will care. How many candles will record our bold or humble passage? Will our own fire go out on the first breath? Will we have taken the piece with the corner icing, or will we have spent a lifetime cautioning ‘oh, no … not for me.’

Most important of all, how much more of this pretentious rambling will we have to endure before they cut the cake?

HB, Gerry.