During my youth, I was blessed with an uncanny ability to remember numbers, especially birthdays and phone numbers. "Back in the day", I was able to dial each of my siblings' phone numbers without use of a phone list or directory. Until my nieces and nephews started marrying and having families of their own, I could recite each of the birthdays and for a time, even the birth year as well.
Something happens to us as we grow older! Actually, many things happen to us as we grow older in the realm of mind and body. With each year, we accumulate more and more information which seems to clutter our minds and prevent us from processing the older information as quickly. As a result, even though I may still know each of those birthdays, I often am not reminded of them until I see the current date on the calendar. My memory difficulties may also be attributed to the fact that I am the family member who rarely sends out cards for birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. That is probably a missed opportunity to keep things fresh in my memory.
Another factor, however, is the sheer size of my family of origin. Just to crunch a couple of numbers, I am the youngest of eight children. Each of the eight children had at least three offspring with their original spouses. Two of us have four children and one has five. If you start to do the math, eight children with eight spouses and 28 offspring becomes somewhat unreasonable. It wasn't until the nieces and nephews started getting married that you now introduced spouses birthdays and, then, their children. Later, re-marriages with step-children were introduced to the mix. At some point, the task of remembering without visual aids became so daunting that I simply gave up.
Something happens to us as we grow older! Actually, many things happen to us as we grow older in the realm of mind and body. With each year, we accumulate more and more information which seems to clutter our minds and prevent us from processing the older information as quickly. As a result, even though I may still know each of those birthdays, I often am not reminded of them until I see the current date on the calendar. My memory difficulties may also be attributed to the fact that I am the family member who rarely sends out cards for birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. That is probably a missed opportunity to keep things fresh in my memory.
Another factor, however, is the sheer size of my family of origin. Just to crunch a couple of numbers, I am the youngest of eight children. Each of the eight children had at least three offspring with their original spouses. Two of us have four children and one has five. If you start to do the math, eight children with eight spouses and 28 offspring becomes somewhat unreasonable. It wasn't until the nieces and nephews started getting married that you now introduced spouses birthdays and, then, their children. Later, re-marriages with step-children were introduced to the mix. At some point, the task of remembering without visual aids became so daunting that I simply gave up.
So to the chagrin of some of some of my siblings, I can still remember the original spouse's birthdays but have no clue about the new spouse. If pressed, I could remember each of my nieces' and nephews' birthdays (and maybe even birth years) but their current spouse or children, I would have no idea. I am sure no one else even gives this a second thought but that's why I have a blog!
All of this came to mind because today is Jeremy's (my son-in-law) birthday and not being a card sender, I sent him a text message to wish him a happy birthday. Of course, I should write an entire blog about texting and how one day I said "I would never do that!" Today is also my brother Glen's birthday. Tomorrow is my brother-in-law Jim's birthday. For all the birthdays I remembered and all those I forgot, I am writing this blog to wish everyone a Happy Birthday! If on your actual birthday, I forget to send a greeting, call you on the phone or send you an "annoying" text message, please remember that today I thought of you and wished you a happy day.
"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
[Psalm 118:24]
~ DB Turnmire
Happy Birthday Jeremy!
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