44

Ramón’s 37th birthday fell on a Saturday, so we got to spend the entire day together. I told him we could do whatever he wanted.

His first wish was to go to Waffle House for breakfast, and we fulfilled this lofty dream without issue. Next, he wanted to take the dogs to hike at Stone Mountain, so we loaded them up and hit the road.

Given Ramón’s directional issues, I’m confident we hiked further than the intended 5-mile trail, but everyone made it unscathed. On the way home, he suggested we stop for slushies at QT, so we did.

We got home, showered, and relaxed for a while.

But of course Ramón had one thing on his mind: dinner. Despite limitless food options, Ramón opted for KFC — the first and only time we went there during our lives together.

“I wish every day could be like this,” Ramón gushed as we sat at a table waiting for our order.

“What do you mean?”

“We had Waffle House and slushies and now we’re at KFC,” he elaborated.

“Realistically these things could happen every day,” I responded. His eyes lit up. “I mean, they’re not going to, but they could.”

After a fleeting look of disappointment, they called our order number. Ramón eagerly made his way to the counter, and all was well in his world again.

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I recently learned the concept of a “Yes Day,“ where parents are supposed to agree to everything the kids request on a given day. That’s basically how we spent Ramón’s 37th birthday. At the time it seemed somewhat ridiculous, but looking back on it now, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Ramón would have turned 44 today.

Honor him by treating yourself to one of life’s simple pleasures today. We spend most of our lives telling ourselves no, but today’s a good day to say yes.

Happy birthday, Ramón!