Birthdays on Other Days

mike stanley lake powell

By Gabrielle.

Yesterday was September 11th. When I go about my day on September 11th, and see something or read something that reminds me it’s September 11th, like many people, I relive those moments of twelve years ago. We had just moved to New York the month before. I held newborn baby Olive in my arms while I watched the news. Ben Blair was in Manhattan.

And then I remember that September 11th is also my dad’s birthday. The picture at top is my dad at Lake Powell. I believe he would have been 70 years old this year!

He died a few years before the events of 9/11. And I’m not sure how he would have felt, sharing his birthday with a national day of mourning. I know that Liz of Mom 101, a life-long New Yorker, has a 9/11 birthday as well, and I’ve noticed she finds good ways to celebrate, while also honoring the somber realities of that day. And I always wonder if that’s a hard balance for her to strike.

I’d love to know, do you share your birthday with another big day? 9/11? Pearl Harbor? Or maybe a holiday? Do you like sharing the day? Or would you switch if you could? And if your child has a birthday on another big day, what’s that like?

P.S. — I was at a business lunch yesterday, and people were sharing their stories. I talked about my Dad, and his decade long obsession with yellow. Yellow socks, yellow shoes, yellow clothes, yellow watch, yellow car, yellow classroom. I miss my dad. It was nice to have an excuse to talk about him.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top