Birthday

Today is Laurence’s birthday. I stop writing to look out at rooftops with the bare branches of trees rising above them. Because I married Laurence, I get to live in this place.

I smile to myself, recalling those first years here when we roamed the city from Bronx to Brooklyn, from brownstones to large apartment complexes, from the J Train at Woodhull Hospital to the last stop on the D Train at Coney Island. We carried tracts everywhere we went: “Would you like a Gospel tract to read?”

I felt quite pleased to be his wife when in 1999, Laurence graduated valedictorian, giving a speech that had his classmates laughing and nodding in agreement. His 26 years at Elmhurst have not been without stress, but he continues to take patients vitals and to listen to their complaints and praise. He skillfully draws my blood when I’m the patient and checks to see that I’m moving through the system. His coworkers greet me, “You’re Penner’s wife.” Laurence gets to come home for lunch with me.

Covid was hard! At times, the symptoms still bother. However, we continue to walk city streets and climb mountain trails. Tonight, we’ll dine at an Uzbek restaurant. With Laurence, I get to experience the cultures of the world.

Laurence is not planning to retire this year.

Happy Lunar New Year! Lunar New Year is a big deal in Elmhurst where we live. Berniece