I woke up early, feeling depressed because it was my birthday,
and I thought,
"I'm another year older," but decided to make the best of it. So I
showered and
shaved, knowing when I went down to breakfast my wife would greet
me with a big
kiss and say, "Happy birthday, dear." All smiles, I went in to
breakfast, and
there sat my wife, reading her newspaper, as usual. She didn't say
one word. So
I got myself a cup of coffee, made some toast and thought to
myself, "Oh well,
she forgot. The kids will be down in a few minutes, smiling and
happy, and they
will sing 'Happy Birthday' and have a nice gift for me." There I
sat, enjoying
my coffee, and I waited. Finally, the kids came running into the
kitchen,
yelling, "Give me a slice of toast! I'm late! Where is my coat? I'm
going to
miss the bus!" Feeling more depressed than ever, I left for the
office.
When I walked into the office, my secretary greeted me with a great
big smile
and a cheerful "Happy birthday, boss." She then asked if she could
get me some
coffee. Her remembering my birthday made me feel a whole lot
better.
Later in the morning, my secretary knocked on my office door and
said, "Since
it's your birthday, why don't we have lunch together?" Thinking it
would make
me feel better, I said, "That's a good idea." So we locked up the
office, and
since it was my birthday, I said, "Why don't we drive out of town
and have
lunch in the country instead of going to the usual place?" So we
drove out of
town and went to a little out-of-the-way inn and had a couple of
martinis and a
nice lunch. We started driving back to town, when my secretary
said, "Why don't
we go to my place, and I will fix you another martini." It sounded
like a good
idea, since we didn't have much to do in the office. So we went to
her
apartment, and she fixed us some martinis. After a while, she said,
"If you
will excuse me, I think I will slip into something more
comfortable," and she
left the room.
In a few minutes, she opened her bedroom door and came out carrying
a big
birthday cake. Following her were my wife and all my kids. And
there I sat with
nothing on but my socks.
