Howard’s Birthday

Howard’s birthday falls into the thin sliver of time between today and tomorrow. He was born on leap day. When he tells people this fact, they often nod and give out an enlightened “Oh” as if the quadri-annual nature of his birthday explains something about him that had puzzled them. It is as if the anomaly of his birthday somehow explains the anomaly that he is. But the coincidence of his birth explains nothing. If Howard is anomalous it is because of the hard work he has done to hone his skills in cartooning, writing, presenting, storytelling, and social interactions.

Since we can’t sufficiently celebrate Howard’s existence in the thin sliver of time allotted to us this year, our family usually turns over Feb 28th as Howard’s day. He is 42. In the geek circles where we tend to orbit, this will lead to cheerful jokes about Howard being the answer to life the universe and everything. I can’t vouch for Howard being The Answer, but I can attest that all of my answers are easier to find because he is in my life.

Happy birthday Howard!