Beyond Words

Guess what today is?  Yes, it’s Saturday and yes it’s the first Saturday this Fall without an ESPN “Gameday” to watch, which makes me very sad, but it’s also something more significant.

Today is 12/13/14.  Not only is it perhaps the perfect day to get married so the groom can never forget his anniversary date, it’s also the last sequential calendar date for at least 20 years!  The next time this happens will be 1/2/34, as in 2034!  And think about it, the next 12/13/14 won’t be until December 13, 2114.

Gamblers love these types of dates and expectant parents often induce the birth of a child if the due date falls anywhere near today or any other “special” date.  It’s rare and it’s distinctive.

This all brought to mind a blog I wrote back in 2012, my second ever posting.  In honor of 12/13/14, I thought I’d share it with you again.  Enjoy today and every day!

Dates with Destiny June 11, 2012

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Dates.  Not the kind you go on with the opposite sex.  Not the type you eat.  I’m talking about those numbers on a calendar; particularly the ones that mean something.  Dates, you see, are often anything but trivial.  Many even have widely popular and Webster-worthy names.   Blind dates.  First dates.  Travel dates.  Game dates.  Dates with destiny.

Dates are magical numbers in our lives.  In posting my previous blog, my very first one, I noticed it was on June 9, a somewhat surprising memorable day for me.  You see, June 9 was our daughter’s due date.  For nearly nine months that was “the” day for me, as everything revolved around it.  Now, 19 years later, I still remember it and find it somewhat prophetic that this empty nester’s first blog was posted on that very date…all by coincidence.  The reason I find it surprisingly memorable is because June 9 is not my daughter Kristen’s birthday.  No, she decided to come 3 ½ weeks early on May 16.  Still, June 9 will forever hold a special place in my memory bank.

We all have our own “June 9^th,” or what I like to call distinctive dates.  Birthdays, anniversaries, the day you won the lottery.  These, you might say, are the happy, celebratory ones.  We also, however, have more somber dates etched in our minds.  The day a loved one passed away, the day of a personal tragic event and, of course, September 11, a date that will never be the same for most of us.

Future dates are also significant.  Our smart phones and laptops are filled with them.  We use them to plan our lives and sometimes even those of others. We boast of target dates, holy dates, and dates that we promise to start something new or achieve something grand.  But, “a goal without a date is just a dream,” (Milton H. Erickson), so choose your dates wisely.  Literally!

I recently saw a cute idea called “The Dates Our Lives Were Forever Changed” on Pinterest via Etsy to commemorate special dates.   It’s a framed print of dates of your choice.  It got me thinking:  what dates would I include on it?  How about you, what dates would you use?  Do you have one that’s personally unique or one the rest of us haven’t thought of?  Do share!

In the end, today may not be a “special” date for you, but make it special anyway and, as Annette Funicello once said, “life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.”

Have a wonderful day!