A few years ago on Buzzfeed, I found this page that listed various events, milestones, and other silly occasions that occur on people’s birthdays — some fascinating, some bizarre, and some that are simply shocking beyond belief. Then I proceeded to share it with some of my family and friends on Facebook and reveal to them which weird national holidays fell on their birthdays — in other words, not only do people have birthdays, but it turns out that everything on the face of the earth has a special day of its own. Now that I own this blog, I’ve decided to expand this presentation and split it into three parts — school friends, theater friends, and family members as well as other friends in my circle.
Since I was best-known amongst my school friends as the bloke who could memorize their birthdays at the back of my head, I thought it would be fitting to start with this group of folks and share what they get on their big days. Some of the people I included in my Facebook note return here, and others who didn’t make the cut last time will be warmly welcomed here. Each of these will be presented in order of month; so, without much further ado, here is the list.
JANUARY
Elizabeth and Jennifer Ridenhour – January 9th
National Apricot Day – Not a bad place to start, eh? With twins and fruit, what could possibly be better? Jokes aside, either of them could own a garden which partly consists of apricots blossoming in due season. Certainly is a swell idea.
Laura Bailey – January 29th
National Curmudgeons Day – Nonsense! She’s one of the most chipper, optimistic people I’ve met. From memory, I might have only seen her in a bad mood once, which included her raising her eyebrows — something she would rarely do.
FEBRUARY
Stefanie Shimel – February 3rd
National Work Naked Day – Say what?! I could never imagine her going nude! No way, Jose! Not even while singing (we did have choir class in Grade Eight after all).
Jeffrey Medlin – February 29th
Leap Year Day – Duh! This only happens every four years, but let’s just say he should consider himself blessed to be one of those rare people to be born on such a remarkable day on the calendar. Happy birthday, lad — well, sort of!
MARCH
Megan Ross – March 3rd
International Irish Whiskey Day – This one’s somewhat appropriate, considering it’s only two weeks away from St. Patrick’s Day, and she might as well give that drink a try one day, if she hasn’t done so. Especially if she’s of Irish heritage, then it’s a must!
Gary Lewis – March 10th
International Bagpipe Day – Considering the gentleman adventurer that he is, I can see him traveling to Scotland and blaring out those bagpipes. Epic win!
Brittney Vaughn – March 25th
National Waffle Day – There ain’t nothing to start a spring morning — or a birthday — right with a good old-fashioned breakfast of well-prepared waffles. Also adds plenty of energy for the day that lies ahead.
APRIL
Jeff Abrams – April 8th
National Draw A Picture Of A Bird Day – He would most definitely be skilled at this, as I remember seeing him draw once or twice. Now if he can draw a bird, that makes a Crowning Moment of Awesome on his part.
Nicole Kursun – April 13th
National Scrabble Day – Like her cousin mentioned the month before, she gets something particularly epic. She could challenge him or anyone else to a game of Scrabble for an hour or so, and if she’s lucky chances are she might win!
Devon Oglesby – April 16th
National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day – I can kind of see her doing that, particularly if it’s the end of a work week. Even though she labors for a family healthcare, it’s not hard to envision this happening to her. She might as well encourage her clients to do the same thing, too.
Kim King – April 21st
National Bulldogs Are Beautiful Day – Gee, you think? I’m very well aware she has a couple of dogs, but not necessarily a bulldog per se. Based on the photos I’ve seen, her bulldogs are beautiful nonetheless.
MAY
Josh Huston – May 2nd
National Truffle Day – Huston and fungi? Kind of hard for me to envision, whether he has a garden or not. Regardless, if he does, I suppose he’d be content with his children gathering mushrooms for mealtimes — provided they’re edible.
Monica Meyers – May 9th
Lost Sock Memorial Day – My, this is a heavy one! Who knew that losing your socks could be so dramatic? As far as I’m concerned, she seems to be mature and cautious enough to keep her socks well-organized. Still, we can’t see what the big fuss about that sort of thing is anyway.
Courtney Carnahan – May 21st
National Strawberries And Cream Day – Ah, this one is ravishing! I wonder if she could have a meal like this with her folks on a vacation or a holiday gathering — that makes a scrumptious thought.
JUNE
Jeanette Aites – June 8th
National Jerky Day – This is a rarity! I’ve rarely ever seen anyone eat beef jerky, let alone people I went to school with, but she gets a pretty sweet deal. Perhaps the best time to have it is during a camping trip, in which this is included as a snack to munch on by the campfire.
J.P. Burcks – June 13th
National Axe-Throwing Day – Wow, that is so hardcore! Seriously, though, he turns out to be a relatively tough chap if the situation calls for it, and I’m sure he can handle throwing axes like a boss.
Britt Hensley – June 16th
National Fudge Day – Now this one’s more like it! We’re talking about the sweet tooth here, and she gets a genuine treat. If she gets a brownie cake for her next birthday, that ought to be something special.
Molly Kindrick – June 24th
National Pralines Day – Sounds a bit appetizing. It’s not hard to see her baking this, as we did have Nurtition-Wellness class together in Grade Nine.
Michelle Niewald – June 27th
National Pineapple Day – Fruit appears once again, folks! Perchance she might enjoy a pineapple beverage in hand, yet we may never know for sure.
JULY
Benjamin Heiman – July 5th
National Bikini Day – Oy vey, you’ve got to be kidding me! This bloke in a bikini?! Inconceivable! Unless he longs to try out in a nightclub act and dress in drag, it could fit him to a small extent. But, who knows?
Michael Andrade – July 9th
National Sugar Cookie Day – Heheheheh, I never realized he was such a sweet tooth! But perhaps in the near future, in place of a birthday cake, he may as well use a sugar cookie to add spice to the big celebration — make of that if you can!
Marissa Krassinger – July 18th
National Caviar Day – Don’t know if she could afford that, but if she hasn’t tried it yet, we could suppose she could dine on that at lavish restaurants with her husband. Just remember, you don’t like it till you try it.
AUGUST
None of note.
SEPTEMBER
Natalie Siefert – September 18th
National Cheeseburger Day – Ah, more food appears here. If she had these on her birthday, what a feat that would be! Just be sure to use tomato sauce, too.
Kristin Green – September 22nd
National Hug A Veteran Day – Seeing the loving and warm-hearted person that she is, we can definitely envision her giving a warm embrace to any man who’s served in a war — whether from history or from recent years — as long as he’s alive and well. All the same, it’s genuine gratitude for serving our country.
Heather Wilson – September 30th
National Chewing Gum Day – All right, this is a decent observance. If she does chew gum once in a while, let’s say this is the day to chew as many packs as she can — this is celebrating a birthday with style.
OCTOBER
Thomas Corrigan – October 2nd
National Name Your Car Day – That’s something he’s be really good at, in my honest opinion. In addition to music tours and soccer feats, he could also be a grandmaster of giving cars any sort of name.
Brianna Stout – October 9th
National Beer and Pizza Day – Well, well, fancy that! If it’s the eve of a weekend or a party with her bosom companions, we can picture her having this combo of a meal — the pizza part especially. Mamma mia!
Sidney Bedwell – October 24th
National Food Day – There have been many mentions of food in this article, but she gets food of any and every sort! That includes fruit, veggies, meats, dairies, proteins, wheat and even junk food — than goodness for food pyramids, no?
Shelby Joeckel – October 31st
National Knock-Knock Jokes Day – She seems to be fond of a good joke every now and then, and maybe she might give a shot at pulling one or two of her own. As we all know what this day also indicates, she might as well knock-knock on the door saying “Trick or treat!” and come up with a clever witticism there. How delightful!
NOVEMBER
Mark-Anthony Gillera – November 17th
National Unfriend People On Facebook Day – Ouch, that’s harsh! This act of cruelty has happened to me quite a few times, possibly based on misunderstanding, and I hope he never does this to me. It would be unforgivable! (For that matter, I hope the same is true for any of my other school buddies, however many there are.)
DECEMBER
Zoey Flaxbeard – Decemeber 4th
National Wear Brown Shoes Day – Oh, that’s easy! I don’t think I ever noticed her shoes (with the possible exception heels), yet I can imagine her wearing brown tennis shoes. If anything.
Cathrine Chesbro and Hannah Fraley – December 16th
National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day – Last but not least, we have another pair of twins, and what a way to close this out! As we know, they both dearly cherish the Yuletide season, and if they add chocolate to go with anything, that takes it up a whole level of pure deliciousness! For Christmas devotees, this is a perfect match for their holiday spirits.
I will stop right here. Trust me, this is solely based on what I have learned and researched, so don’t shoot the messenger! This did sound like a great deal of fun, and I hope you enjoyed learning from this just as much as I enjoyed sharing it. Proof that we never stop learning. If any of you contemplate trying these out to coincide with your day of birth, the choice is up to you!
As mentioned before, this is the beginning of a three-part series covering this challenge; in the second part, I will switch my focus to my buddies from the wonderful world of theater, and see what strange holidays they get on their big days. Until then, ta-ta and toodle-loo!
TO BE CONTINUED….