Cupcakes and Candles and a Dog

Mari and I made a bargain with each other,
recently--one we were happy to make--that
we would not buy each other further birthday gifts
after we decided to move our trusty old leather couch out of our lives, and to have three chairs
re-covered, instead.

Daniel was not part of that bargain--
Why should he be? He is not old enough
to understand almost-double-digit-decade
birthdays. He does recognize an old iPad
when he sees one, though. When last
we visited them in Portland, I forgot it,

and Dan, thinking it was Mari's,
arranged for her
to pick up a new one, here in Tucson.

As it happens, Dan did not know
that it was my iPad, not Mari's,
and that her's was much older even
than mine: 1840-something, Mari says.
Or almost. Maybe not the oldest i-Pad,
but the second generation.

Then, because it was not a present,
we had lunch at an Italian restaurant
up the steps from the Apple store.

This getting-older stuff
is not so bad when
you do it right, with mussels
and artichokes and wine
and a great heap of fresh bread; maybe retire
the old iPad, finally.

Today, with Jao here,
we celebrated everyone's
birthday, with cupcakes
and candles and a dog.

And now Mari can do Facetime, too. And already has!

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