Birthdays Old and New

I’m not good at remembering summer birthdays. Maybe it’s because there’s too much else to do. Maybe it’s because summer was never birthday season in my family.

Growing up, my family’s birthdays were either in the spring or the autumn. We had birthdays in March, April, and September. The last kid was born in November, which seemed like an afterthought. I had all the relevant dates memorized and dutifully bought cards and presents as appropriate.

It wasn’t until I married that I had to start worrying about summer and winter birthdays. January, February, June, August—all came with multiple birthdays to remember, as well as the spring and autumn birthdays. And more since then—May, June, and July are now crowded, with August and October catching up.

The only months now in which I have no family birthdays to remember are March (which used to be crowded), April (only my own birthday, which gets little recognition), and December (but with Christmas in December, who cares about birthdays?)

As new family members came on my horizon, one summer birthday became easy to remember. There were two people celebrating on June 29—my father-in-law (born in 1918) and my husband’s aunt (born in 1933). I’ve written a few posts about my father-in-law, a man still missed in the family. My relationship with the aunt was more attenuated, but I always remembered her birthday because it was the same day as my father-in-law’s and she was born in the same year as my parents.

Both father-in-law and aunt are gone now. My father-in-law passed away in 2012, and the aunt last year. I thought we would have no reason to celebrate June 29 this year.

But then I learned my daughter’s fiancé’s birthday is June 29. And so, once again, I bought presents and birthday cards and mailed them off. Birthdays were serious business when I was growing up, and I’ve tried to maintain that tradition for close family members. He is now included.

I have a couple of other birthdays to celebrate in June as well, but I am happy to add a new one as we welcome a new member into the family. At least it’s on a date I should remember, unlike so many other summer birthdays.

Happy birthday to my future son-in-law!