Osaka, Japan

The bakery still sends my wife a free birthday cake

Dear Delyara, My wife died two years ago. This morning, an email arrived from the bakery where we used to order birthday cakes: Happy Birthday, Keiko! Your complimentary slice is waiting. I almost deleted it. Instead, I walked there. The young woman behind the counter asked for the birthday account, then looked confused because the date of birth would have made my wife sixty-three today. I explained she had died. Immediately, the employee apologized and tried to cancel the reward. I said no, please give me the cake. Chocolate chestnut. Keiko always chose it even though she claimed it was too sweet. I took the slice to the park and ate it on a bench. I felt ridiculous and unexpectedly happy for part of it. People nearby were feeding pigeons. A boy dropped his juice. Traffic continued. Nobody knew a dead woman was technically having a birthday through a loyalty programme. I used to hate automated emails after she died. Electricity reminders, store offers, dentist appointments addressed to someone who could no longer use them. Today, one computer somewhere remembered her date when the rest of the world had no reason to. I know it was marketing software. I ate her cake anyway.