I have an odd memory for birthdays. I'm not bad at remembering them in general, and it's probably common to find it easier to remember the ones that are on or near to holidays. But if your birthday's close to mine, I will remember it forever, whether or not there's any need to.
I mean -- my birthday's March 10. And so:
I have a cousin whose birthday is March 7 and another whose is March 11. I haven't seen either since maybe 1992. A kid who lived around the corner in grade school's birthday is March 13 - he must have moved away because I don't think I ever saw him after about 4th grade. A coworker from three jobs ago's is on March 11, but at least he and I still keep in touch. A coworker from my last group has my identical birthday, even to the year - in fact I think that's one reason she and I keep in touch. Another from that job was born the same year a week later. My husband's grandmother's birthday is March 9, which is more than he remembers. She was born two days after me, and it must be either the same year or the year before, since we would have been in the same grade in school.
I think I may make birthday resolutions this year, since after all it's a new year of me. There's an old woman in a story by L.M. Montgomery who had resolved that her birthdays would be days of happiness for toher people, if she could manage it. I'm not sure I'm ready to try that. (Though all of my reasons not to collapse on investigation: I hardly see people outside work? The make it happy for them. And so on.) One of mine is going to be to be better at celebrating other people's birthdays. I've been terrible at that this year, at least for the ones I'm not on a gift-exchanging basis with, and most people really do seem to enjoy and appreciate being thought of, even if it's only an e-card.
Posted by dichroic at February 23, 2005 12:03 PMMy dad's yahrzeit is March 10 this year. (His birthday was March 13 -- as he liked to point out, the Ides.) He used to give us little gifts on his birthday. I smile whenever I think of him.
Posted by: l-empress at February 24, 2005 06:13 AMI need to join you in that resolution. I have absolutely no discipline with remembering and celebrating other's birthdays (and sometimes even my own!) whatsoever. And as for that John Waters quote - it does explain a lot, doesn't it? I may need to work it into my profile!
Posted by: Pam at February 24, 2005 09:02 AMI have a similar memory for birthdays. Ex-boyfriends, people I rarely even SPOKE to in school whose birthdays are near mine, any schoolmates who shared birthdays with each other (there were four people in my grade in school all born on October 3rd and I can still remember all of them even though I've only seen one in the past twelve years, for example), friends from first grade. I'll be writing a check and go, "oh, it's Pammy Flick's birthday," when Pam and I haven't spoken more than ten words in a row to each other in twenty-three years.
My mom is this way with phone numbers. Very handy. She works as an office manager in a dental office and if anyone has ever been a patient there, Mom has his/her home and work numbers memorized, not on purpose, the numbers just stick in her head. Saves on having to using the phone book.
Brains are interesting things.
Posted by: Rachel at February 25, 2005 12:16 AM