I sat down at my computer for a brief moment yesterday and was reminded of your birthday. Charlie’s birthday is tomorrow, October 6. He will be 58 years old. I thought to myself … I must reach out to him, say hello. The sun sank into the ocean.

I woke several times last night and finally surrendered to rising into the darkness. It was just past five in the morning. I thought of you, yourself having been with the sun for a while now, and wondered about your day. Will there be cake, presents, a celebration? Or will you, like myself, find some project to do? Engage in something that is yours, for your own enjoyment, or feel like you need to provide further for family and be present for others as you have done your entire life? It is your birthday, but is it your life? I ponder such things, and perhaps you do as well.

I continue to think of you. Maybe I’ll just post a Happy Birthday to him on the ole Facebook. That would be easy, but not so meaningful. Anyone can do that and in the seven seconds it takes, my effort would be complete.

Happy Birthday Charlie 🙂

But you mean more to me than seven seconds. So I think, well, let’s message him with Messenger, but then I realize you are not on FB that often, but I do have your cell phone number. I could get an iPhone message to you and you may get it like right away, unless you have opted to Sleep Mode your phone for the day or even power it off in celebration of “It’s my Day!”

I make coffee. No surprise there, and a muffin. The sun starts to slip up and behind the Bamboo that filters it for a several hours and I find my self googling your birthday. Trying to see what other events happened on this day that would be interesting.

October 6, 1960 was a Thursday. There have been 21,184 days since that date, meaning you have slept for about 19 years and there have been 717 full moons during your life time. The next one is this month October 24, 16:46:00 GMT. It will be number 718, but I know you already did the math.

There are many historical events for this day, but the one I noticed to be significant was that Benjamin Franklin, at the age of 17, landed in Philadelphia in 1723. He then went on to power what both of us chose to do for our careers; electronics and computers. Without him, we may have been carpenters.

Anyway, I could go on with the facts and references and the like, but the real reason I wanted to connect was to say …

I am so very grateful that we met, back in school. I do not recall the exact year, but it must have been when I moved into the towers, 1980 perhaps. I recall thinking of you and how smart you were. You were very meticulous with your writing and studies. Myself not as bright, somewhat scattered at times and of course … enticed by girls more often than not.

Your thoughts were clear and concise. You had a vision of what you wanted and pursued it with a passion. You were kind and non judgmental. You had a quiet sense of humor that was cerebral and curious and funny all at the same time. We talked at times and found exploration in subjects and life and kidnaped a rabbit.

Our lives moved forward and over the years each of us forged a life, sharing along the way times together and times apart. I still feel connected to you in some way, even thou we have been apart more often than not. Perhaps this is how two independent friends find way in their life. We clearly are both capable of doing things on our own, not dependent on others to float our boats or manage our lives. We are explorers of life and want to enjoy and contribute in some way.

One last thing … Each of use various social media programs that are around these days, Instagram being one of them. I hesitate to fully commit to one or the other, sometimes thinking to exit all together and chop wood outside or do something not related to Benjamin Franklin’s inventions …

I have; however, found Instagram to be entertaining, with pictures and sharing, in a low key way. Not so much time spent posting with words and links, but just a snapshot of our day. Your children, a place you have been, your tractor, a delicious meal that you cooked … parts of our life that mean something to us.

I thought the other day about this and of you and I realized that …

The most meaningful thing to me about Instagram is our occasional connection with it, and when I post something, you show up, and we share a slice of life together.

I am so very grateful that we met-

While 7 seconds was clearly not appropriate, the 5,220 seconds spent here still feels far less than adequate to express happiness and joy to you on this special day.

Happy Birthday!

Enjoy some cake and your family.

And post something on Instagram for me to click on.

❤