Today was Maria’s 51st birthday, I have never really made a big deal of birthdays or known quite how to celebrate them. Our day was fragmented, we got up early to see the demolition of the old Ackley Building, next to O’Hearn’s pharmacy, then we had to meet with our lawyer, then Maria had her weekly lunch with her friends, and tonight, the second rehearsal for my play, “Last Day At Maple View Farm,” which opens tomorrow at Hubbard Hall.

I snuck out after lunch to buy her some flowers and a pendant I liked, she bitched about my buying her too many presents – she always does and I always will. But she loves flowers and they brightened up this cold winter’s day. How does one celebrate the birthday of someone like Maria. Dinners and pendants seem pretty shallow. I wish I could take her to Florence for a week or two, but this is not going to happen anytime soon.

In the meantime, we continue to work to get our act together, our finances in order, our creative work vibrant and flowing. In some ways, my life began when my daughter was born, in other ways it began when I met Maria. We both saw deeply inside of one another, we have always encouraged and supported one another, our souls are fused in our love of creativity, animals, the natural world. And our little town.

We stand together in truth and commitment and love. Happy Birthday girl, you deserve 100 more good ones.