Yard sticks

Last night was Ken night (we postponed it because Weds night was Blizzard Night). I truly wasn't in the mood to hear the same stories of his past, but I tried and finally convinced myself to be pleasant and cheerful. I reminded myself that he may be old but he can still tell when I'm bored and I need to put on a happy face ("I've got something in my pocket that belongs across my face, I keep it very close at hand in a most convenient place...it's a great big Brownie smile"). Anyway yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the day he started working at the prison. I pointed out to him that this means he's been retired for exactly as many years as he worked for (he likes to make a point of the fact that he worked there for 35 years). He said he could retire from being retired.

Anyway, I was really struck by the way he keeps track of memorable dates in his life. Not just things like Betty's birthday, their wedding anniversary, the date Betty died, etc., but dates like the date of his infant son's funeral, the date he started working at the prison, and dates that are memorable and yet most people wouldn't keep track of. Especially not for 70 years.

This made me think of my life (naturally) and dates I've kept track of. We all know birthdays of our loved ones, wedding anniversaries, death dates of loved ones, things like that. What other dates do we remember? I remember that I started working as a librarian in January of 1977, but I don't remember the date. I started this job on Oct. 30, 1984. I was supposed to marry Howard on June 9, 1972. I graduated from college on May 20, 1974. The 70's are as far back as I have memorable dates for, though. I feel as if I should have more dates to mark my life with, but I guess it's pretty good that I can remember these. Will I have something that I remember for 70 years?

Who else has significant dates--like, speaking of Brownies, who remembers the date they flew up to become a Girl Scout?