I shared this story with some friends on social media some years ago and decided to blog about it too. This is a little story of truth not being truth: March 16th and my dad's false birthday.
My dad's birthday was always celebrated, with our family, on March 16th. We never questioned that day because that's what he was told by his parents. No reason to dispute that. Right? A long time ago, we didn't have the burden of proof as we do today. My dad started school based on his birthday being March 16th, his father even attested to this when he signed him into the Navy. They didn't need birth certificates back then, as they do today, and this was the birthday that he and his family always celebrated since he was a child.
Years later, dad filed for Social Security. It was time to prove his birth date and dad had to produce a birth certificate for the very first time. Lo and behold, it came back as April 16th (same birth year). Could this have been a mistake? A month apart could not be right - could it? We continued to use March 16th but the family joked about the two birthdays. Then, when the 1930 census was released (I do our family genealogy), there was the proof that he was really born in April and not March. We started celebrating his birthday on April 16th then.
The mystery, of the wrong date, was solved when he and I were discussing his starting school as a child. He believed that his parents used March in order to start him in school earlier. Something to do with quarters back then as opposed to what we have today. Since he was the baby of the family, I'm sure they were anxious to get the last one out of the house. And so began the birthday that really wasn't but carried on for over sixty years. Couldn't do that today.
This taught me that the truth is based on what we perceive in the moment. When a new thought appears, it can be used to changed out our original truth or not. In this particular instance, we changed ours by deciding to use the birth date based on the birth certificate, based on recorded fact, as opposed to what we came to realize was someone's fabrication.
This situation helped me understand that what we see as truth may not always be so, as we may have bought into another's truth that may be fabricated or fantasized. Furthermore, this taught me that truth is based on actuality. We need to research and collect our evidence. I often see people share or say things without verifying it, possibly because they want to believe it's true. Also, this showed me that we may have to wait for the truth to be revealed. Probably why we are asked not to be hasty in our judgment.
My dad's birthday was always celebrated, with our family, on March 16th. We never questioned that day because that's what he was told by his parents. No reason to dispute that. Right? A long time ago, we didn't have the burden of proof as we do today. My dad started school based on his birthday being March 16th, his father even attested to this when he signed him into the Navy. They didn't need birth certificates back then, as they do today, and this was the birthday that he and his family always celebrated since he was a child.
Years later, dad filed for Social Security. It was time to prove his birth date and dad had to produce a birth certificate for the very first time. Lo and behold, it came back as April 16th (same birth year). Could this have been a mistake? A month apart could not be right - could it? We continued to use March 16th but the family joked about the two birthdays. Then, when the 1930 census was released (I do our family genealogy), there was the proof that he was really born in April and not March. We started celebrating his birthday on April 16th then.
The mystery, of the wrong date, was solved when he and I were discussing his starting school as a child. He believed that his parents used March in order to start him in school earlier. Something to do with quarters back then as opposed to what we have today. Since he was the baby of the family, I'm sure they were anxious to get the last one out of the house. And so began the birthday that really wasn't but carried on for over sixty years. Couldn't do that today.
This taught me that the truth is based on what we perceive in the moment. When a new thought appears, it can be used to changed out our original truth or not. In this particular instance, we changed ours by deciding to use the birth date based on the birth certificate, based on recorded fact, as opposed to what we came to realize was someone's fabrication.
This situation helped me understand that what we see as truth may not always be so, as we may have bought into another's truth that may be fabricated or fantasized. Furthermore, this taught me that truth is based on actuality. We need to research and collect our evidence. I often see people share or say things without verifying it, possibly because they want to believe it's true. Also, this showed me that we may have to wait for the truth to be revealed. Probably why we are asked not to be hasty in our judgment.
The picture is my dad in 2005.
Happy early birthday wishes to your father!! :) This was actually quite wild, and now I just got a thought similar to your father's situation. For the longest my family has been celebrating my younger sister's birthday on the 25 or 26 of June. We recently found out her birthday was on the 27. But in our case, it probably had to do with my mom celebrating all of our birthdays on one day since all of our birthdays are within very close days of each others.
ReplyDeleteFortunately her birthday wasn't being celebrated a month in advance like your dad. That's actually pretty wild. In that case, it would've seemed like such a habit to celebrate his birthday in March rather than in April had it been me. Yet I understand the circumstances. Interesting story!
Yours is an interesting story too Mon. I think I'd want to celebrate mine on the correct day if I found an error. There was family members joking about celebrating his birthday twice a year so we decided we better pick one of the days. Everyone agreed to make it April so there wouldn't be any future "legal" confusion. ☺
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