Super Power: Birthday Remembering!

I’m not a super hero, but I do have a super power.

My little brother says, we remember what’s important to us. Well, I must consider birthdays very important. Maybe I didn’t get enough attention when I was younger on my birthday, I don’t know, but I love my birthday, I love celebrating and I love remembering other peoples birthdays and special days.

For as long as I can remember I have had a good memory for other peoples birthdays. I can remember other special days, too. I don’t know for sure how it happens, but when I explain it to others they like to tease me. Example: I’ll say, “Well, I was almost full term pregnant with Kelsey when Scott and Stacy got married. I was big and uncomfortable at the wedding, and Kelsey was born a week later on July 21st. So I know their wedding anniversary is July 15th.”

So family will say, in jest- “The moon was rising over Sagittarius and Jupiter was falling…” like it is a magic ability, or power. Well, if I do have a super power this is it. If you asked me the price of bananas, I have no idea and never have. I can’t remember any prices, ever. I don’t know if what I’m shopping for is a good deal, because I can’t remember what the price of hamburger is per pound. If I need bananas, I buy them. If I need hamburger I buy it, but forget a birthday? Never!

For example: in January these are the birthdays, Brad-2nd, Lizzie-2nd, Indie-6th, Nancy-9th, Ian-16th, Vickie-17th, Monroe-22nd, Kiefer-23rd, Liam-23rd, Lilli-30th, Colin-30th, Abby-31st. I typed all of these from memory except 2. I had to check, but not too bad.

I have made lists of birthday, and anniversaries and shared them with the rest of the family. I may have even saved someone from missing an important birthday. Just sayin’. In that way I may even be a super hero!

I love my family, my people. I have chosen to send a birthday card to each family member on their birthday. It takes effort, but I want them to know I love them and I want them to know they are remembered on their special day. Most the time I don’t hear back from them. That’s ok. The ones who say thank you are always so glad I took the time to remember them. I just got a message from my niece who is serving a mission in Germany. She got her bday card and loved it. When your away from home and you get mail it’s the best!

Maybe that’s it. When I was a missionary I loved mail. When someone takes the time to send a letter it means they thought about you to think about doing it, then they thought about you while writing the letter/card, then they thought about you while getting/writing the address, and then one more time while dropping it off at the mailbox! So much loving thoughts.

It’s worth it to me!

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Why Important Birthdays Are Important

They acknowledge our steps along the road. They let us savor the joy, yet again. They inspire laughter and shenanigans. They embrace pageantry and tradition. They ask us to close our eyes and make a wish for the future. -Tiffany&Co.

Pet Peeves

One of the things that have evolved in the history of mankind is the need to remember something. Maybe a hundred years ago or so, you might have to remember a combination to a lock, or locker. You might have to remember where the letters were located on a type writer. You would have to remember how to drive a car, or a car with a stick shift.

In the period of time I live in it has gotten very complicated. I am still trying to come to terms with the amount of change and detail I feel overwhelmed by on a daily basis. My number one pet peeve and it is something I deal with everyday, is passwords.

In the world we live in you need at least a few passwords to function. In this world there has been evil almost from the start. If we could trust everyone, we might not need locks and passwords and so many things to remember. But for now, this is what we get.

Even the most basic function of taking care of keeping your money safe is more complicated. If you have a bank account you can use your plastic card to get money out of the bank, but you’ll also need a 4 digit pin (like a password) to finish the job. This is a private, secure, random number that you must remember. It really should not be written down, to keep it secure.

If you want to receive email, besides the mail you receive from the mailman (snail mail, as it’s called), you need to make sure you have access to a computer, this is called being “Online”, then choose a provide; Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook, etc. Don’t ask me how to make the decision on who to use as a provider, cause I don’t know. Then you decide what your email address will be. Some people use cleaver emails, like i.like.cats@example.com, or betty_better_best@funexample.com. It is quite an ordeal to even come up with your address. Then check and see if it’s available. If it’s not available then someone else picked it first. The hardest part is next- decide on a password. It must be at least 8-10 characters long, use numbers and letters and symbols. Then after you decide and have a really creative password, never forget it…except when you do, then you have to reset your password and come up with another really creative password. Sometimes my fingers hit the wrong keys, and it says my password is incorrect. This is sooo frustrating to me. I take it personal. I am offended! “What the ______!” “No dang way!” “Oh my h___!” If I forget or have to reset my password when I’m away from home and can’t write something to see if it is creative, I just come up with something on the fly and then I may never remember it again. My brain was not built to remember passwords.

If you want to shop online, check on your kids progress at school, be a part of Social Media- which means checking out what everyone else is doing in their life (Online), you need multiple passwords I have hundreds of passwords. I hate them! They make me crazy! I do have a place where I keep some of them besides my head, but it is even more confidential than my passwords.

Even though I can do lots of things because of passwords it feels like how I imagine hell. You are in a place where you want out. You can see from a distance things to do, nice things to see, places to go. There are old friends and new friends over in the distance, but you can’t go, because you don’t remember your password. They have helpers to help you reset your passwords, but because you’ve done it so many times nothing sticks anymore. “Nope, nothin in my noggin!”

Now all of this is the best case scenario. The worst is if someone finds out your password, they can do serious damage to your life. They can take your money. They can take your identity and pretend they’re you, shopping online and scamming your friends on social media. Why? I have no idea, except they are annoying and evil. These people apparently have brains made for millions of passwords or least know how to use a computer for that. They not only have their own, but try to find out everyone else’s passwords. Losers!! I don’t know what the answer is except to just keep making really cleaver passwords and forgetting them. It is the world we live in.

My hope is someday we have a better world without passwords and losers!

Maybe that’s death. I sure hope I don’t go to password hell.