By Vicki Scott
This past week has been crazy and in the mist of all that chaos, I thought about birthdays.
It’s not my birthday until May, but I thought about people who have the same birthday date as I do. I believe I remember everyone who shares my birthday celebration every year. Sharing the same birthday is like having a special bond.
I know this sounds random, but Facebook Messenger has a kid’s app (controlled by the parent) where the kids can make phone calls. Our five-year-old grandchild Saylor Rhea learned how to call. I know this because she called us at a little before 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning while everyone in her house was asleep.
The first person that comes to mind who shared the same birthday was my bus driver, Mr. Guthrie. Aside from his bus driving, Mr. Guthrie owned a convenience store, and every year he would give me a cigar box full of candy for my birthday. I learned years later he was brutally murdered in his store. I wish Mr. Guthrie were still alive. Our grandchildren would have loved him, and he would have loved them. He was a grandparent type and would have filled their cigar boxes with candy just because.
One of the deacons at First Baptist Reeltown, where we used to attend church, had the same birthday as me. I loved him and his wife dearly. They were the cutest couple. The deacon’s wife wife would cry every time I saw her after he died.
A few birthdays ago, I found out on Facebook that my daughter-in-law’s sister was born on my birthday. I was looking at my Facebook posts and there it was, her birthday. I have a feeling I will remember her birthday. Well, I say that but someone else comes to mind.
Jerry Skinner, a military veteran and one of our seniors at George Wallace Senior Center in Glencoe, has the same birthday as I do. This past year I forgot our bond until he wished me “Happy Birthday” and asked me how he remembered. It then clicked. Jerry had brought cake “back in the day” before COVID when we could fellowship in the center. Now, all we have is cards and smiles with our “Happy Birthday.” I need cake…and fellowship. Jerry and his wife also own a special place in my heart and always will.
There is one more person that despite his religious beliefs, I praise God he was born. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO at Facebook, shares the same birthday as me. We’ve never met but he has made such an impact on my life with Facebook.
Saylor Rhea called me on Facebook Messenger because she knew I would be awake, and we talked most of the morning. I treasure times like these. I usually must share her attention, and she mine. Because of Facebook, we spend time with each other while everyone else is asleep. Saylor Rhea’s mother has put limits on her calls to me, but I feel honored that she wants to call me, all the time. I pray that never changes.
Birthdays come and birthdays go but having birthdays in common is special. I praise God for this special bond that I was able to think up in the middle of my mental chaos. Who is your special birthday bond with? Stay safe y’all!