Today would have been Kris’s 34th Birthday. His birthday was usually quite the event. We’d do a birthday dinner with his family, another dinner with my family where my mom made him tater tot casserole, go to Lucky 13 for pizza and beers with our friends, and then just Kris and I would go out for a fancy, romantic, expensive dinner.
Over the years Kris and I had cut back on gifts – meaning we decided to spend our money on traveling and rafting. But Kris did buy himself an Aire Wave Destroyer last year. It was kind of like a birthday present to himself. And I did get him a pair of SmartWool underwear, and Stanley shot glasses. I had Kris buried in that pair of underwear.
I should be celebrating with Kris today. I should be taking him to some new restaurant. We should be planning our summer vacations, planning our lives together. He should be turning 34 years old. Thirty-three years on this plant is not enough. He should have had another 50 years. I could drive myself insane with “should have’s”.
So today I’m going to Arbor CrossFit to do a memorial workout for my husband. The weather is supposed to be nice, so I’m going to spend time in the sun, just me and Maddie. And then I’m spending time with family.
I miss my husband. My house is quiet. Weekends are going to be the toughest. Luckily, so far, I’ve managed to make plans for most weekends. I started working more, keeping busy helps some.
Going to Lucky 13 had become the thing to do for Kris’s birthday. And there was always a good turnout. It’s become harder to get everyone together as we’ve gotten older. Kris and I have host a Christmas dinner party for all our friends every December. We started doing it before we got married. It seemed like getting together for Kris’s birthday was the next time we’d see everyone at once.
The first time we went to Lucky 13, I tried to surprise Kris. I emailed everyone to meet there early and then wouldn’t tell Kris where I was taking him for his birthday dinner. But I made strawberry rhubarb cake, which took longer to bake than I anticipated, and I made us late. And Kris thought it was weird that I was making a dessert to take to a restaurant….So he just let me think I surprised him.
The next year we went I made cheesecake bars to share with everyone. But we decided to ride bikes. I packed the cheesecake bars in tupperware and cooler bags with ice packs. They were so heavy to carry on our cruiser bikes! Kris wasn’t very happy with me…It’s a pretty far bike ride from our house to Lucky 13. That same year we ran into our friends Sean and Annie, who were also at Lucky 13 for dinner. We sat down with them on our way out and, if my memory is correct, several more pitchers of beer were ordered, and we did not ride out bikes home…. Annie gave us a ride home in her Volkswagon Van.
Last year we drove, it has been raining. We ended up sitting inside Lucky 13 in their upstairs room. I made paleo chocolate chip raspberry skillet cookies. The night ended with Kris and Alex doing handstands. At this time last year Kris and I were thinking about buying a rafting company…
Looks like perfect Lucky 13 patio weather this year…..
I can’t believe I made the blog! i have loved reading your blog and the memories you have shared. It makes my heart ache, but it also makes me smile. He was such a beautiful human and I regret all the times we talked about doing a double date and then never following through. See you soon! xoxo
That year you gave us a ride home ended up being one of the best nights! Kris cracked up every time he remembered Jay trying to crawl into the back of the van….. Kris kept pushing his head down every time he attempted to get into the van and Jay was so confused as to why he couldn’t figure it out!
You guys buying that raft company was the talk of our IG thread for months. We were all super jealous of you guys making such a crazy and interesting move, but also totally understood why you chose not to proceed. Hope you all had fun at Lucky 13, miss you all.
I know…..we were so close to doing it! It would have been really hard. Such a different life, I don’t know if we would have liked it long term, but part of me thinks we would have loved it. Not being able to do anything else during our summers was the biggest reason we chickened out…and the money, I don’t think we would have made very much, what do you do the other six months of the year? Crazy to think about now….