11 11 11 41

Veteran's day always served a double purpose in my adult life. One was it gave me pause to reflect on how those in our military, lay their lives on the line to insure and protect the freedoms I often take for granted.

The other was actually more important, it reminded me of my brother's birthday. My youngest brother was born on November 11th. Having 4 siblings, I was grateful for anything that would remind me of their birthdays. Having one born on a holiday is certainly one way of doing it.


Keith loved being born on Veteran's day. He used to joke that people were getting the day off from school or work (although I don't remember getting the day off for either) for his birthday.
Having a brother with a birthday on a holiday was working for both of us. I remembered it and he basked in it. Then, in 2009, he goes and dies on me!

What good is a remembering a birthday if you don't have someone to celebrate with? So, I started celebrating Keith's birthday here, on my blog. In November of 2009, I spaced my posts 39 hours apart since he would have been 39. What can I say, the kid loved math. On his actual birthday I posted every 39 minutes mine and other's remembrances of him. Last November, I linked many of those remembrances at the end of my posts and on what would have been his 40th birthday I wrote this.

Keith would have actually enjoyed his 41st birthday better than his 40th. He was obsessed with math, and particularly enjoyed calendar math. This probably had something to do with being born on the 11th day of the 11th month. I remember in 1981 how he cherished turning 11 on 11/11. I also remember in the mid to late '90s how this 20 something was telling me what would happen on his 41st birthday. I mean hey this was before people were even worrying about Y2k!

Yes, today his 41st birthday is on 11/11/(20)11. The kid would certainly dig that. The only thing he might have wanted to change, if he could go back in time (a concept, he often thought about), would to be born 3 decades later and turn 11 on 11/11/11. I am not sure my Mom, who would have given birth at age 60, would have appreciated that.

In honor of Keith's posthumous achievement I posted this at 11:11 this morning. We all miss you Keith. The memories we have of you, and the knowledge that you are in Heaven, help us get through each birthday and every day we spend without you.