The two most important dates in our lives, we will never recall. The day we were born we don’t remember and the day we die perhaps everything is forgotten. Birthdays are celebrated every year, even sometimes beyond death, and last days are sometimes remembered with fond memories. Between our first and final days, a few dates of significance are observed like the birth of our children, wedding or dating anniversaries, retirement, and loved ones who have left us. Every day means something to somebody, but very few days are unforgettable. 

Many holidays any more are no longer fixed on the calendar. Only Groundhog (2/2), Valentine’s (2/14), St. Patrick’s (3/14), April Fool’s (4/1), the Fourth of July, Halloween (10/31), Christmas (12/25), and New Years (1/1) fall on the same day every year.  Otherwise, they are relegated to Mondays like Memorial Day, MLK Day, Labor Day, and President’s Day, Thursday for Thanksgiving, and Easter Sunday. Good Friday is adjusted to precede Easter. Jewish holidays are based on the Hebrew calendar. The bottom line is that other than the fixed dates of celebration, we don’t automatically recall where they fall every year. 

Each of my generation typically remembers the assassination of John F. Kennedy (11/22/63), the Twin Towers collapse (9/11/01), the moon landing (7/21/69), and maybe the Martin Luther King assassination (4/4/68). My parents would probably have added war related dates like Pearl Harbor (12/7/41), D-Day (6/6/44), V-Day (5/8/45), and Hiroshima (8/6/45), as days they would never forget. All of us are certainly familiar with 7/4/1776, but none of us were there. Can you think of other days in recent memory that have affected each and every one of our lives?

I’m retired now since 12/31/16, a date that will always have personal significance. It means nothing to anyone else but me. I’ve claimed that since retirement each day is now the same and there are no longer weekends, holidays, and vacations; or everyday is one of these, depending on how you look at it. I can easily look-over the non-fixed dates without a reminder from someone, but I always seem to acknowledge the Holiday standards. With the exception of these fixed traditions, I would have trouble naming ten unforgettable days of my life, and some of these I’d like to forget. Can you think of ten specific dates? It’s hard to believe that after 24,529 days since my birth that so few would stand-out. I need to do a better job of making each day memorable!