Happy 6th Birthday, Dublin!

Unlike Lily (and her father for that matter),

Dublin doesn’t count down the days before his birthday,

cataloging lists of toys (and collectibles), 

imagining a sweet piece of joy as the wrapping paper tears reveal all the things he had slept on nights before. 

No.

Dublin’s concept of birthday is a matter of audio and visual association. Cake. Candle. Birthday song. Whether or not he understands when it is his birthday is also a matter of association. Cake in front of him. Candle for him to blow out. Birthday song containing his name. Gestural cues from the rest of the bodies in the room. 

Unlike us, Dublin’s concept of time is less rigid. He knows when he is hungry and when he is tired; like a kite that catches an occasional gust of wind, but usually only if the holder of the line knows when to tug to help him climb. 

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy, who lives his life not by counting days, minutes and presents, but instead by the sweets in the room, the fire in the room, the song in the room, the love in the room, the wind in the room. Dublin Black…you are teaching me every day that being present is about abandoning what I know and instead relying on everything in the moment to make and feel meaning. A real birthday. When everything and everyone in the room says it is. 

P.S. Thank you to the best neighbor kids ever! You made this impromptu birthday happen! You made this family memory happen!