>35< Two people meet and find out there’s a birthday commonality between them. One day, they stumble across a party in a park that’s significant to their lives.

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Jonah handed a small paper coupon to the cashier behind the counter. It read, “Happy Birthday! Enjoy a free 12 oz smoothie on us! Coupon only valid on July 26, 2025.” The teenager grabbed it from him and offered a polite, “Happy Birthday! Can I have your name?” Jonah thanked her and said his name with a small smile. He watched her scribble the name on the side of the cup she was holding. She replied, “It’ll be ready in a couple minutes! Thanks! May I help the next person in line?” Jonah walked to the other end of the counter where he waited a few minutes for his smoothie. He was glad he made the quick walk to the cafe before he headed back home to enjoy his Saturday. Birthdays were never celebrated much when he was growing up. His parents struggled to make ends meet already, so it was quickly understood from a young age that special treatment on birthdays weren’t really in the budget. He was thinking about what he would do when he got home when his train of thought was interrupted. 

Jonah heard the cashier exclaim, “No way? It’s your birthday too? Happy Birthday! What are the odds that you two were in line at the same time?” A look of confusion flashed across Jonah’s face as he looked up and saw a woman – probably about his age – standing at the counter. She slowly turned his way, following the pointed finger of the cashier. The customer smiled at Jonah and made a subtle wave. “Huh, a birthday twin. And at a smoothie cafe of all places,” Jonah thought to himself. 

He noticed the woman was walking in his direction to also wait for her smoothie. He said without thinking, “It’s your birthday today too, huh? Happy Birthday.” She said, “Yeah, it is! And happy birthday to you! How old?” Jonah had butterflies at this point. He tried not to talk to many strangers while he was out in public, but now that this attractive woman was asking him how old he was not even five seconds into their conversation, he didn’t know what to do. Should he lie or not? 

“Uh, 24 actually. And you?” Stupid, stupid, stupid. Jonah knew that was a mistake. “Never ask a woman her age,” his parents always told him. The woman chuckled and responded cheerfully, “No way! Me too! What are the odds of that? Using your free coupon too?” Jonah was a little more at ease now. The small gamble he took by asking her age just made it a slightly more meaningful and memorable interaction. 

“Ya, of course! It’s worth like 50 bucks! These smoothies get more expensive every time I come in here.” 

“Oh yeah, it’s crazy! Even the smallest size they have is almost 10 dollars. What’s with that! Are you kidding me?” the woman replied enthusiastically. 

“It’s pretty ridiculous. I’m gonna enjoy every last drop of this free one cuz I’m gonna have to save up for months to come back again. Hey, what’s your name,” Jonah asked. 

“You’re tellin’ me! I’m Conzee. What’s yours?” she replied. 

“That’s an interesting name. I’m Jonah.” 

“Jonah, huh? That’s a great name too.” Conzee smiled at him. Jonah was feeling brave now and quickly replied, “Ya know? You’re actually the second Conzee I’ve ever met.” 

“Really? That’s weird! Who’s the first?” 

“Yes! The first Conzee I met was in my daycare when I was younger. I don’t remember a lot from when I was little, but I remember my daycare a little bit and a few of my friends.” 

“Huh?” Conzee pondered it for a second. “By any chance are you from around here?” 

Jonah nodded. “In a way…I live by myself about a five minute walk from here. I grew up about an hour drive from here though in Dorton. Do you know where that is?” 

“Dorton, yeah. I’ve been there a couple times! I’m from Blueford, just about a mile that way.” Conzee gestured toward the street outside. “I only ask because if you grew up here, I might be the Conzee you knew when you were little!”

“You think?” Jonah thought about it for a minute. 

“Yeah! Think about it! We’re the exact same age, we grew up in the same area, and besides, I’ve never met another Conzee around here and I know a ton of people! I’m sure! Do you know the name of the daycare you went to?” 

There was an optimism in Conzee’s voice. Jonah looked past her to see the staff member was about to call their names and hand them their smoothies. “I think that’s us,” Jonah gestured to the counter so Conzee would turn and look. Sure enough, the guy behind the counter said their names aloud, handed them their smoothies, and wished them both a happy birthday. They grabbed their straws and proceeded to walk toward the door. 

Conzee piped up, “Say, what are you headed to do right now?” As he tried to decipher Conzee’s tone, he said, “Um, well I’ll probably head home and just finish the last season of a show I’ve been watching. My parents are busy this weekend, so I’m going to visit them for a get-together thing next weekend.” He sounded a little more shy this time. Was she about to invite him somewhere? Probably not – they just met. 

“Oh, okay! Well, I was just on my way to this little party gathering I’m going to at Claudia Park just a few blocks from here. It’s nothing special, just my mom and a few friends and some pizza. I figured, ya know, since we’re birthday twins…well…um…I guess I’m inviting you!” She finally spat out. Jonah absorbed the information as he took a prolonged sip of his caramel apple smoothie – his favorite. He swallowed the sweet goodness and felt the butterflies again. 

“Uh, sure! Why not?” Did he respond too quickly? Did he sound like a lonely, desperate loser? He tried to rescue himself with, “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose or anything?” Conzee chirped, “Of course I’m sure! Come on! Besides, I want to ask my mom if we went to the same daycare. She would pick me up most days, so I’m sure she would recognize your name.” Jonah smiled. “Okay, sounds good! Thanks!” 

The two of them walked two blocks to the small park, conversing about random topics the whole time. They had a lot more in common than just sharing a birthday. They enjoyed a lot of the same movies, the same flavors of candy, and even found out that green was their shared favorite color. When the pair arrived, Jonah was glad to see that Conzee wasn’t exaggerating about her party. A guy and a girl, both in their early twenties, and an older woman, presumably her mom, were all sitting at a picnic table under a large oak tree. He could see a small plaque at the base of the trunk with an inscription on it. On the other side of the tree trunk, a few yards away, was another table with a group of eight or so adults standing around and chatting. 

Attached to Conzee’s table were some helium birthday balloons that swayed in the summer breeze. Spread across the table was a thin, green tablecloth. In a stack on one end were two pizzas from a local shop and a six pack of pop. As Jonah and Conzee approached the table clutching their nearly empty smoothie cups, the group looked a little confused at the sight of Jonah. Conzee shouted before they could offer up a question. “This is Jonah and we’re birthday twins! It was the weirdest thing! He was in front of me getting a free smoothie too and we got to talking, and he was free today so I invited him here!” Conzee blurted it out so there was no contest to her reasoning. Conzee’s friends and mom looked at Jonah, then each other, then all simultaneously spoke. It came out as a jumble of words though and included a, “Happy Birthday, Jonah,” a “nice to meet you,” and a “the more the merrier.” Jonah smiled, getting the gist of what was said, and replied to it all by saying, “Thank you for letting me join you.” Conzee immediately jumped in and said, “Mom, where did I go to daycare? I’m convinced that Jonah and I went to the same one because he says he remembers a Conzee there and I think it was actually me.” Her mom thought for a second. “I think it was called Kiddle Care. Does that sound right?” Jonah didn’t recognize the name. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. He thought about the name of his, but came up blank. 

Conzee said, “Are you sure that was it? How long was I there?” Her mom said, “Ya, I’m pretty sure. I think you were there for about a year…now that you mention it though, I just remembered you actually went to two daycares. We switched after a few months at the first one, when you were about three. They were right across the street from each other. I guess I just lumped them together in my mind. Umm…let’s see. I think the other one was called waffle something. Waffle Developm…Wiffle Babies…Wiffle’s Baby? Ya, I think it something like Wiffle’s Baby Development Center. Jonah, did you go there?” 

At the sound of the name, the group that was standing around the other table suddenly got quiet all at once. Conzee’s table took notice and got quiet themselves too. A man peered around the trunk and took a few steps towards them. Jonah didn’t know how to react, so he just looked at Conzee and her mom, who were just as confused. The man said, “I’m sorry to interrupt. I was just talking to my brother over there and we thought we heard you say ‘Wiffle’s Baby Development Center.’ Were you talking about the daycare just now?” Everyone felt very awkward all of a sudden – as one does when an eavesdropper suddenly reveals himself. Conzee said, “Yes?” with an uncertain, questioning tone. The man was sort of frowning at this point. 

“Oh really? Do you mind me asking what about it?” Conzee’s mom fielded the question. “We were just remembering that Conzee went to Wiffle’s for a little while when she was younger. Is there something we can help you with?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I see that you’re celebrating a birthday too. Sorry to interrupt. We are actually doing a similar thing at our table but we have a connection with Wiffle’s too. Small world, huh?” 

“Ooh, okay. No worries! Do you mind me asking how? Are your kids connected to the daycare?” Conzee’s mom asked, then relaxed a little, waiting for a response. Jonah recognized the name of the center more and more as it was said. The man replied, “It’s not really a very positive connection, unfortunately. You probably know the story actually since you were there at some point. Um, how do I put this? My son went there when he was two and three…and well…he was actually kidnapped.” 

A sense of terror, sadness, and empathy washed across Conzee’s birthday group. He continued, “My son was taken while he was at Wiffle’s Baby Center for the day. Now I’m sure it’s more obvious why I came over here. So sorry to interrupt…” He paused before deciding to continue. “It’s just that my son’s missing case has been cold for about twenty years now and we are still searching for any type of clue or lead that would help us learn if he’s still alive. My family comes to this tree at the park every year on his birthday. You might have seen the plaque on the ground.” He pointed at it and gave it a quick glance before resuming. “We actually got permission to plant this tree for him to celebrate his memory and give us some hope that we’d find him one day. We had a ceremony for him a year after he went missing – on his birthday in fact.” 

Conzee chimed in, “I’m so sorry to hear that. What a crazy coincidence about the date though. It’s my birthday today too. That’s why we’re here.” 

“Well happy birthday to you. I hope you have a good rest of your party. Would you folks happen to want some lollipops? We have a big basket of them over there because they were my son’s favorite.” Without waiting for an answer, the man started to walk back to his group’s table. Jonah was closest to the table and was still standing, so he took it upon himself to walk over to get a handful of candy for his group. It became obvious that the man’s family was not-so-subtly listening to their whole conversation. The man grabbed the basket off the table and spun around to offer it to Jonah. They exchanged a glance, making eye contact for an uncomfortable few seconds. Jonah gave him a smile a moment later and put his hand into the basket to grab a handful. “Thanks!” he said after being pleasantly surprised to see that they were caramel green apple suckers – his favorite. After withdrawing his hand from the basket, he accidentally dropped one on the ground. It made a click-clack upon landing on the plaque at the base of the tree. He squatted down, picked it up, and quickly glanced at the inscription. In cursive engraving, it read, “In loving memory of our son, Jonah. We hope to see you again soon.”