Mea Culprit

  My parent’s anniversary was yesterday, and I forgot. I remembered today when my mother called and said their anniversary was yesterday. This led to me swearing to (not at) my mother and apologizing for forgetting. She said it was ok because no one else remembered either. It’s my brother’s fault that I forgot.
  Benny is good with dates. Let me rephrase. Benny is well organized concerning dates; meaning he writes them down. I prefer to rely solely on memory. Which is why, since I’ve known her, I’ve never been able to remember my friend’s birthday. I’m usually a day or two late, and every year I tell myself that I’m going to write it down and next year I’ll remember to call on her birthday. But I’m rarely right. The one year I did remember she was out of the country. Memorization wasted. What I do remember are: obscure movie quotes and situations in which I embarrassed myself when I was fourteen. And the time when I was in kindergarten and, during practice for a talent show, I sniffed loudly directly into the microphone and everyone laughed. When I told my kindergarten teacher about what happened she recommended that I carry tissues. Smart woman.
  Every time an important date came up, I could expect a phone call from Benny. Remember, today is Gabe’s birthday. Don’t forget to call Mom today, it’s her birthday. (It’s pretty much always birthdays). Except family birthdays are the days I don’t forget. Thanks for wishing me a happy birthday, Ben. Yes, I know it’s also Dad’s birthday. How can I forget that growing up I never got my own cake? Just last month I was joshing Ben about how he doesn’t actually remember dates so much as he’s prompted. But that’s how most people do it. Great salesmen don’t remember every detail about their clients. They write some key facts down and can bring them up casually in conversation.
  A few years back Benny stopped calling to remind me; most likely he assumed that I was an adult, capable (or at least able to look at a calendar) of remembering things like Mother’s Day. What do they say about making assumptions? I still rely on my father to email reminding me to turn my clock forward.
  I’ve tried. Really, I have tried to remember important dates. I even made an anagram of the most important days (no I didn’t). I keep telling myself that I need to use a day planner. I purchased multiple Palm Pilots in an effort to force myself in to organization. It’s just not in me. I used to have a working system, but he stopped calling to remind me.