My husband and I don’t celebrate each other’s birthdays. I don’t even remember his birthday, and even though mine is on Korea’s Constitution Day, we just let it pass like any other day. Maybe I’m just too tired to bother remembering. It feels like my brain intentionally deletes it from memory. Then I got a text from my older sister:
“Happy birthday. Stay healthy.”
I tilted my head, wondering, “Is it really my birthday today?”
Then I remembered what my mom used to say:
“Do you know how hot it was the day you were born?”
Even though it was such a scorching day, my mom gave birth to me and raised me with so much love. She never forgot my birthday. I remember one birthday, when I was in 6th grade. Like always, we had watermelon. But then I started having sharp pain on the right side of my stomach. It got worse and worse. I rolled around the floor in agony.
My father picked me up and ran to a nearby hospital. Turns out, a watermelon seed had gotten stuck in my appendix and I had to have surgery.
I’ve already had my appendix removed, so I’m okay now. But every time my husband eats watermelon, I nag him not to swallow the seeds. What if he ends up needing surgery too? And with the crazy cost of medical bills in America, just thinking about it makes me hesitate even to buy a watermelon. That’s how practical I am. I care a lot about money and I’m pretty good at remembering numbers related to it. Unfortunately, I’m not so good at remembering faces or names. Maybe it’s because I don’t think they’re as important as money?
Before we go to a social gathering, my husband always reminds me:
“If someone comes up and says hi, please don’t say, ‘Who are you?’ or ‘Where did we meet?’ Just smile and nod. Okay? I really don’t get how you can remember every cent to the penny but can’t recognize people you’ve met many times.”
“That’s probably why I never became successful,” I reply.
“What if one day I can’t even remember your face? Just leave me at a nursing home then.”
“Don’t say such nonsense. I’ll push you around in a wheelchair if I have to.”
“Well, I guess we’ll find out when the time comes. But thank you—even just hearing that makes me feel better. As a birthday gift, can you buy me a Mega Millions ticket? Who knows? Maybe I’ll win enough to buy that wheelchair myself. You say you won’t abandon me, so I should at least be the one to prepare the wheelchair. You’ve lived with me long enough to know I’m not the type to just be a burden without a conscience.”
I heard that the actor Brad Pitt has face blindness—he can’t recognize faces. I’m not officially diagnosed, but I wonder if I have the same thing. I can remember voices, but faces and names… not so much.
I hope I’m not face-blind like him!
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