Happy Birthday to Mike

Mike showing Mary Lee how to shoot skeet a year ago at Thanksgiving -

Today is my husband's birthday. He spent the first six hours of it (as well as the last six hours of the previous day) working all night to pay our bills, and will spend the next eight sleeping to make up for that. When he came in this morning, as I was on my way out, I started to say "Happy birthday, old man" - but that's getting a little too close for comfort at his age. Then I started to say "You're only as old as you feel," but to somebody who is coming off of 48 hours of night shift work in four nights' time, that's probably also not a good thing to say.

His entire life he has shared his birthday with remembrances of Pearl Harbor Day - which has been like the more recent notoriety of being born on Sept. 11.

He found a shirt he wanted online and said "This can be for my birthday." Then he bought a blood pressure cuff on eBay, so since he used my Paypal account I told him to let that be part of his birthday as well. (A blood pressure cuff for a birthday present - obviously we are the practical type.) So when he told me not to buy him anything for his birthday, I told him - "Not on your life! I've already spent enough on you for your birthday!" Obviously we are not the romantic type either.

Happy birthday to my hard-working husband.