Sweet Reflections from My Birthday Treasure Chest
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We’d been dating precisely four months when my birthday arrived. I’d never been one to make a fuss about it like some are wont to do—I didn’t let friends know the day was approaching, and I certainly didn’t plan a festive party around it. I usually let it pass like any other unremarkable day. But early in our relationship, Jimmy had prodded me for my birthdate and proceeded to commit it to memory. What a sharp memory he had, because beginning in early October, he was perpetually reminding me that a special day was around the corner. I reddened with timidity each time he mentioned it. That year, my birthday fell on a Tuesday. In effect, it was Tuesday, November 1 st , 2011, or 11-1-11. The palindromic nature of the date captivated my mathematical mind more than the personal significance behind it—inordinately self-deprecating, I know! Birthday pain perdu at Lola (Naas) Jimmy had started a new job just a month earlier, after a summer hiatus of "in between jo