The Calendar


My Mom kept “the calendar”.  Not only did it have the dates of everyone’s birthday, anniversary, and so on, she also tracked certain dates using a special code that only insiders could crack.  Her calendars often included numbers preceded by a minus sign, like the “–120” seen on the calendar above on April 29.  That indicates that my Grandmother (my Dad’s mother) would have celebrated her 120th birthday that day.   She would often call me and say, “our Grandmother would have been 120 today,” – or something along those lines. 

Today is a significant date in the Gisselquist calendar.  Today would have been my mother’s 84th birthday.  I don’t keep a calendar like Mom’s.  Perhaps someone else has marked their calendar, “–84” today.  

I received two nice cards from those older relatives who are part of the “letter sending generation”.  It’s very thoughtful.  Maybe Facebook has a feature where you enter the dates that significant loved ones died, or their birthdays no longer celebrated, so that your Facebook friends can be prompted to send a message on those days.  (I’m sure there’s a way to do that – no need to send Facebook tips.)  

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