Planning a 40th birthday in COVID season isn’t easy….so everyone got creative. Socially distanced and what not, we navigated the waters for my brother this weekend. He was on to us days before. I dodged his calls and avoided anything that might oust me being in town from Savannah.
The day of, we knew he knew and he knew we knew he knew (I’ll wait…). But surprises, you know, come in all shapes and sizes.
At forty, most of your family and friends will look back on your life for you. In my brother’s case, it was always a matter of funny little mishaps. Getting clobbered by a bat stealing home (straight hospital busting open the side of his face for a month to drain it 🤢), for instance.
There’s always that one relative…the one that shows up with the oddest of things. Most cringe at the awkward sweater or Kama Sutra book they got from a grandma or aunt. Imagine your granny giving you a book on eroticism because they’d heard it got great reviews.
It was near to noon on a sunny day on Willowdale Lake in Ohio, when our aunt pulled up just before my brother was scheduled to arrive. She was quite apologetic but it was all in the spirit of the party, you see.
She’d picked up the chicken, she insisted. My sister clenched her jaw and asked what she meant. My aunt untangled her hair from her purse and walked back toward the door, motioning all to follow. I dragged myself along, listening to my sister mutter complaints. I could could go for chicken, I thought. Without looking, she handed back a large carton, while she squawked out what she’d done.
Your brother always did like chickens, so I thought he’d like these peeps. I mean, it was a six peep minimum, so I just got him, you know, the whole setup…feed, bedding, lamp.
Something Better 