What Makes Dates So Special

What do the following people have in common?

• Jamaal Charles, running back for the Kansas City Chiefs
• Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor of NBC’s Today Show
• Hayley Williams, lead singer of the group Paramore
• Louis Pasteur, the father of Germ Theory
• John Amos, the father from the ’70s TV show Good Times
• Cole Hamels, star pitcher from the Philadelphia Phillies

If you guessed that they all share a birthday with each other and with me, you would be correct. Haven’t you ever done that little game where you do a search for famous people who were born on the same day as you through the years? If you haven’t, then you should check it out sometime. It might surprise you to find out the people who have that in common. As human beings, we can’t choose the day of our births. We have absolutely no control over it, and yet it is uniquely connected to us over the course of our lifetimes, and indeed even after we’re dead.

I think about special dates all the time because I’m a sentimental sort of person. I love the idea that certain dates hold a significance for people, and that those dates could be many and varied, and we wouldn’t know if they don’t mention them. Not just birthdays, either, but anniversaries and other special days too. These days that mark firsts for us. The first time we met someone, the first date, the first kiss, and not just relationships either, but also friendships too. Death dates are also special for other reasons, and they can either be celebrated or seen as horrible reminders.

Then there are some dates that no longer have relevance for you, but that will always still stick in your mind for whatever reasons. I remember all of my ex-girlfriends’ birthdays, the date I first met my best friend, the date that the Friends series finale was aired, and the day Michael Jackson died. There really is no rhyme or reason to some of the dates I recall, but I could no more get them out of my mind than most people can Thanksgiving or Christmas. I live with them, in good health and bad, ’til death do us part.

Maybe I’m just hung up on things I have no control over. But I think this year on my birthday I’ll blow out candles for those others on the list up there too. Just because.

Sam