“I know we’re all here to wish Mike a happy birthday. But I want to say something else, too.” She fixes her gaze on me and pauses. “Mike, this has been such a tough year for you. What you’ve been through is incredible. The surgery, rehab at Johns Hopkins, and at Mount Sinai.” And then, to our friends around the table: “He has worked so hard. Every day, day after day. He had to learn to walk all over again. He is amazing.” Her eyes come back to me and she smiles. “Not that he still isn’t a pain in the ass, sometimes.”
