Counting Birthdays

Is it any wonder that for almost every day in this month so far I've felt like I'm forgetting a birthday? I remembered to wish Bond on the 2nd. And also remembered that it was AA's dad's birthday... I have no clue how I remember that. Then it was P's on the 5th... my current flat-mate. It was also the birthday of someone I knew back in school... T. Then, on the 7th it was P's... another P. PJ. Another old schoolmate. I think I was more attached to her mother, a gifted scientist and teacher, than to her! I wouldn't have remembered that one, but the last time I spoke to Fiesties, she told me she had unexpectedly gotten in touch with PJ. On the 8th it was Mrs.Plum's, I wished her, of course. On the 10th it was Mom's ...and my cousin, K's. On the 11th it was another cousin's... but I was too distraught to remember it at the time. On the 12th apparently, it is a nephew's birthday, but I didn't remember that then either. Then, for the last week, here goes... on the 14th it was N's, the math whiz back in school... probably the only one I knew then who could give me a run for the algebra race (I still retained my monopoly over geometry). On the 16th, it was U's. Today it is MAT's... almost a ghost from long ago, who once called me her "perfect friend". She's somewhere in the US now too, though I don't know where. On the 26th, it will be V's... once, and for many years, my best friend in school.

The last four people I have mentioned, I am no longer in touch with... along with T and P, who I have also let go, they form a part of my past who's only lovely memory is the old school building. For a long time that was my refuge. For a long time - and, I think, even now - each time I dreamt of any institution I attended academically, I would see my old school building instead of that institution. The only other links with that time are the teachers who taught me, many of whom I am in touch with even today. And the one family tie I discovered several years later, in the same school... an aunt... a real blood relative who had mysteriously vanished from the family tree for a while, and incidentally, who will be celebrating her birthday this weekend.

Nevertheless, this isn't just this year. Almost every October I feel like I'm missing birthdays. Almost every October, my old school days stand out vividly with the memories of schoolfriends long out of touch. I don't really mind that, I think people have to move on... and I myself broke many of these ties years ago. But, every October, I wish these old schoolmates in my head, hope for them happy successful lives, the way we dreamed it would be once, long ago.