two days from now is my brother's birthday
just two days until he's 24 years old
so I'm sitting her in a Starbucks
in a Barnes and Noble
in a Mall
in a City
in the World
trying to think of a gift for him
because when I was younger my parents always made
me buy a gift for him even though
I didn't like him much
he was real jerk back then
or at least I thought he was
but he was younger then and I was younger then
and he's older now and I'm older now
and he's married now so I've forgiven him
I suppose or I just don't really care now
because he's not a jerk anymore so why bother
holding a grudge
but we've never been very close
if only because we're so different
and I'm sitting here thinking about
how I don't really know him and he doesn't really know me
so how can I figure out what to get him
especially since he's pretty much got everything
that he wants
but I feel I should get him something
but not just anything
I mean, sure I could get him some book
by some author I've never heard of
and hope he enjoys it or sure I could
get him a gift certificate but
I've always hated gift certificates
they only say I don't know what to get you
so here buy it yourself
but then they're practical aren't they
if extremely impersonal which is what I want to avoid
so I'm sitting here thinking
drinking latté thinking
drinking cappuccino thinking
drinking espresso thinking
thinking much more quickly now
but then I've always been told
it's the thought that counts
so happy birthday

12/16/2001

Posted on 12/16/2001
Copyright © 2025 Gary Hoffmann