Mark's birthday!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Mark!

I am very sorry I did not call you today and wish you a happy birthday in person.

It's 10:30 right now and I've been home for about 15 minutes, and I thought momentarily about calling just now. But I don't have your cell phone number, which is a serious oversight on my part, I figure. And I didn't want to call your home phone this late and risk waking up any innocent bystanding children.


But I typed today's date into my computer at work 97 times today, and each time I did I thought 'it's Mark's birthday!,' followed by one of these two thoughts (depending on my frame of mind at that particular time of day):

"I'm SO LUCKY to have such a FANTASTIC big brother! He's really great!"

or

"Eh. I'll call him later."

But rest assured, the first was the true sentiment. The second was brought on by a work drudgery-induced coma. When I was younger I took such things for granted, but now not a day goes by that I don't think in my head, at least once, that I really have a terrific family.

I invariably follow that thought with '...and Mark's paintings and sketches are really terrific, too. We should form some sort of conspiracy and tell him so, repeatedly, so that he's torn between a swollen ego and paranoia about some sort of elaborate practical joke. That would be neat!"

All jokes aside, Mark, I wish you a very happy birthday and a blessed (said the atheist) 40th year. You deserve nothing but the best.