Has there ever been a phrase more inadequate than “happy birthday”? Have two such pedestrian words ever been asked to carry more weight on their skeletal frames? We use them to express love, and well wishes, and to rejoice at your very existence. But also, under the surface when we speak those words, we stare momentarily into the unutterable abyss of a hypothetical life where you had never been born, and we shudder at the abhorrent thought. We all mark this day because we love you, and we want you to know it. But we mark it also because it is the embodiment of a promise fulfilled – a covenant we did not even know was made – the promise that we will never know the horror of a life untouched by Sean. I love you brother. Happy birthday