On my dad’s 76th birthday,
I spend an easy day with my son,
Watching him play on the ground,
Rolling a car back and forth.
From my position on the couch,
My attention divides to the pain in my back,
Or the other responsibilities of Sunday afternoons.
I wouldn’t have remembered it was a birthday, were it not for a reminder I set on a device.
No action required. No special gift received.
No one to call to wish a happy day.
Just the sound of small plastic wheels rolling against the hardwood floors,
Back and forth.

-by Luke McKibben