I Accidentally Mixed Up My Dad’s Birthday With a Friend’s Birthdate.

Image from Engin_Akyurt on Pixabay

Let me preface this with I am autistic with adhd, or audhd as I refer to myself in my articles.

This is not the first time this year that I have accidentally mixed up a birthday. This is the 3rd time THIS YEAR. Super weird coincidence, but I mixed them up by a week exactly. 7 days AFTER the day I meant to celebrate. Why brain? WHY?

My Dad’s birthday meant so much to me this year because it is the very first time I would get to celebrate my dad’s birthday. I didn’t even know who he was until the end of March this year. I memorized his birthdate and did as much digging as I could into finding out who my dad was. Approximately 2–3 months ago, a friend of mine told me their birthdate was in October too. That is when my fantastic brain decided to juggle those dates around in my head.

Two days ago, I decided to look it up to double check… and found that my dad’s birthday was on the 11th… I knew that. I did… But why did my brain put the emphasis on the 18th? Is it because my dad is gone, and my friend is still alive? Who knows? Not me. I started to blame myself for not looking it up sooner. I should have… and then I stopped. No. No more beating myself up for a mistake that could have happened to anyone.

My dad most definitely wouldn’t have minded celebrating with me a week late. So, I will go through with my plans of celebrating my dad a week after his birthday. I don’t know what he would have wanted as a gift, but I’m poor right now- so he would have gotten quality time. I don’t know what kind of cake he would have wanted, so I defaulted to what I would do as a parent and went with something my son would have loved, or in this cause something I would like.

Today, one week after your birthday, in a celebration of your life, I will eat pepperoni pizza and cherry cheesecake. Thanks dad! My favorite!

The pizza and cheesecake were delicious. Maybe next year I can remember my dad’s birthday on the actual day.