Future Days and Ex-Days

A frequent thought of mine: there are days that currently have no significance that one day will have significance.

Confused? Okay, that wasn't the best explanation. I'll try again...

Any random Tuesday (though it doesn't have to be a Tuesday, I'm just making a point) could in 5 or 10 years be your best friend's birthday, a national holiday, or your anniversary. Today, it's just a Tuesday, but at some point in the future it will become an important day. Not that there's any way to peg these days (without a future-seeing third eye, or a crystal ball (and the nutbag who comes with it)), but it's an interesting idea. At least to me.

Last night, for the first time, I considered the reverse side to this coin. Days that used to have a certain significance that has changed over time. These days aren't completely equal and opposite to the kind mentioned above. Once a day has meaning, you can't completely erase it if it relates to something that was very close to you. The birthday of a loved one who has died, or the anniversary of a now-divorced couple.

Today is my grandma's birthday. I remembered this last night while brushing my teeth.
This morning, my mom mentioned in passing, "My mom would have been 84 today." So is today my grandma's ex-birthday? I certainly wouldn't say 'happy birthday!' in response to my mom's comment. Then again the birthday of a loved one doesn't become any old day after death. Maybe a birthday shifts to a remembrance day.

So relatives remember loved ones on their ex-birthdays, divorcees reflect on marriages gone by on their ex-anniversaries. Any everyone else goes about their day, none the wiser.

Future Days and Ex-Days. A thought in progress.