A few days ago, while I was traveling to a conference in Chicago, my husband texted me that it was Nasreen's birthday.
"Huh?" I responded.... "On the Muslim calendar?"
When we finally got to talk about it a few days later, he revealed the explanation: Nasreen was born at home on December 2nd, but it wasn't until January 3rd that her family officially registered her birth. So, ever since that time, the world (other than her family and close friends) has thought of her as a January baby.
In fact, Nasreen told me that she often forgets about her December birthday. When her brother phoned her from Pakistan after school on 12/2 this year and told her, "Dad needs to talk to you about something important," she was petrified. She thought she was in trouble and actually started crying before she started videoconferencing with her family, who had stayed awake until 3 am in Karachi to show her the store-bought birthday cake.
We'll be celebrating in January at our house. I can't be held responsible for multiple birthdates for each person!
The picture of them in my mind of making all that effort to celebrate her actual birthday garnered genuine tears and choking up for me. In our neck of the woods birthdays aren't celebrated past 1 year old. I love knowing how special her birth is for them, especially being a girl.
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