09/05/2026
Today would have been Angie’s birthday.
I’m not really feeling the whole “Happy Birthday in Heaven” kind of post this year. Nothing wrong with it. It just doesn’t feel like me… today.
Instead, today was simply a day to remember her in some of the little ways that felt right.
We had lunch with our longtime friend Tandis, who met Angie when they were both clinical case managers in Maryland. That friendship goes back to when the kids were little, so sitting around a table today, catching up, telling stories, laughing, and making plans to visit Maryland felt pretty damn appropriate.
Then when we got home, I decided to sit out on the lanai with a cigar and some coffee.
Of all the ci**rs sitting in my humidor, I went with the Deadwood Dominicana. Not because of some elaborate symbolism. Angie was Dominican. It’s called Dominicana. Today seemed like the day to smoke it. Simple as that.
And, the coffee?
In one of Angie’s old Mickey Mouse mugs.
I think that’s what remembering someone looks like for me these days. It doesn’t always have to be heavy. It doesn’t always have to be sad. And, it doesn’t have to stop life in its tracks.
Sometimes it’s lunch with an old friend.
Sometimes it’s stories and laughter around a table.
Sometimes it’s choosing a particular cigar and drinking coffee from an old Mickey Mouse mug.
Life keeps moving forward.
And, some people simply remain part of the story. 💜
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