A tribute to someone special on the occasion of her 50th birthday.

From the look on your face
in the days after we first met
to the words that lifted me up
when I felt at my lowest
and on to the present
where you describe the feeling
in ways I never could
I remember more than you might think

You shared that cassette with me
anxious to know what I thought
played that game with me over and over
though the result was always the same
posed for that photo with me
at the end of the long, hot summer day
at the insistence of your mother
I remember more than you might think

You sent me that letter one April afternoon
the one where you knew exactly what to say
without patronizing or pitying
and helped me to see
I was not as alone as I thought
I put that letter in a frame
I remember more than you might think

You gave your feeling a name
as hard as it was to live with
you made it a friend
one I recognized all too well
You helped me to see
I was not as alone as I thought
I remember more than you might think

So my annual tributes
on the anniversary of your birth
and my greetings
to mark the start of the new year
are not accidental

I will always celebrate you
I remember more than you might think

(11 June 2020)

Wishes sometimes have consequences—available to order from your favorite local bookstore!

IndieBound search: https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=wishes+sometimes+have+consequences

If they can’t get it for you, you can always find it on Amazon:
Hardcover: https://smile.amazon.com/Wishes-Sometimes-Consequences-Kevin-OConner/dp/0998878154/
Paperback: https://smile.amazon.com/Wishes-Sometimes-Consequences-Kevin-OConner/dp/0998878162/

Information about my other books can be found here.