Ann and I used to take great delight in teasing each other about the fact that neither of us was particularly good at remembering the date of the other's birthday. Ann was especially good at giving me pop quizzes: "When's my birthday, Hoppe?" could come out of her mouth at any time of year. If I got it wrong, which I did all too frequently, she was merciless in her verbal punishment of me. Of course it never bothered Ann in the slightest that she couldn't remember MY birthday. One year I made it until about 8 o'clock PM before she remembered that that day was my birthday.

Fortunately, my own daughter, Emilia, was born on May 17th, Ann's birthday. This cleared up my memory problem immediately, and gave Ann the great delight of telling me how honored she was that I had seen fit to have my daughter born on HER birthday.

Of course it did nothing to improve Ann's memory, but when I called her on 5/17/01, she told me, with a huge smile in her voice, "Oh Hoppe, you've made my WHOLE day!". I can still hear that happy, giggling voice inside my head.

Happy Birthday, Ann.
Hoppe

P.S. And just in case you forgot, it's September 5th.