A Birthday

Last night I went to a friend’s surprise birthday party. Everyone gathered in her backyard, waiting to surprise her. We were excited when we heard her come through the front door.

We saw her head through the kitchen window. We figured she would see us because we had a big fire going in her fire pit. Plus there was some dance music playing on a boom box. But she didn’t notice us.

I was just about to go in when I saw her drink directly from a bottle of red wine. She stopped halfway and then finished it off. She knocked something over and we heard it break. She was angry and began swearing. I thought I better wait so as not to embarrass her.

She left the kitchen and went into the living room. We saw her through the sliding glass doors. She sat on the couch and started watching TV. I’m not sure, but it seemed like she was crying.

The consensus was that she was tired from a long day at work and maybe needed a little alone time. The party continued.

A half hour later someone said that she had fallen asleep with the TV on. We went in. She lay there, snoring. Someone turned off the TV. I picked her up and carried her to her bed. Someone pulled back the covers. I laid her down. Another person took off her shoes. We turned our backs as a female friend undressed her and got her in her PJ’s and pulled the covers over her.

We sang a voice quiet happy birthday lullaby. We left the room and turned off the lights. Everyone went home.

Sometimes quiet and kind things make for an okay present.