May 31, 1988, the day I was born. The significance of my birth was that I was born while my mother had her final exams in college! It was a terrible situation for her at that time and it was difficult to juggle studies with family but she kept struggling until her graduation! Really, it was a great accomplishment that I have yet to show her proper gratitude for and when I was born, my grandfather had the priority to name me and he selected my name because it is the same name of his mother! May 31, 1988 was not simply the day that I was born but it was so much more. My coming into the world could not have been foreboded in a better manner.
Never was a birth into this world received with so much fanfare and celebrity. In fact, how many can claim that on the day they were born the earth shook and trembled? Seriously, however, Darwin, Australia, was shook by an earthquake that registered a 7 on the Richter scale. There were so many events that transpired on the day that I was born. While my birthday was not exactly featured on any major newspaper and neither did it grace the headlines of any tabloid (gratefully so), it did not mean that it was an uneventful day otherwise. In Brazil, the government made a major decision to revitalize the local economy by instituting fiscal reforms.
Similar to the manner by which my parents were forced to make monetary adjustments to compensate for my arrival into this world and the horde of resources they would need to support me, Brazil too was forced to brace for the coming of financially challenging times and notches of belt tightening. In other parts of the world, my birthday was celebrated with the appointment of an Australian to the Secretariat of State of the Vatican. Though I would certainly like to claim that there were no misfortunes that occurred on the day that I was born I have to, perhaps, take the good with the bad or see things in a different light.
Other people say that a man died the day that I was born but, on a personal level, the maxim out with the old and in with the new comes to mind. It was unfortunate that a man died when his boat capsized but then again I have somewhat believed in the circle of life and perhaps his passing had made way for my entrance into this world. Speculation aside, I am sure that the day that I was born will always be either a day of farewells or a day of greetings and salutations. Far from it for me to claim that the only newsworthy events that transpired on my birthday.
In fact, there were other events that are indeed quite fitting to mark this occasion were the introduction of a new swimwear line made by known fashion designers. This was a line that decided to be risque and daring, much like the life I was destined to lead. It also marked a major landmark for sports news casting because CBS announced that it was expanding its roster of announcers and looking for black announcers. CBS was taking a step forward in race relations and breaking down established cultural barriers by making that announcement.
I could perhaps claim that my birthday was a day that boundaries in fashion and culture were broken. Finally, what would my birthday be like it consumerism was not celebrated and heralded at its finest for my birthday was the same day that Coach decided to launch its new model bag that would become the hippest bag in the United States that summer. Retailing for what at that time was already a huge sum of money, the new Coach bag with a tag price of US $138 as well as the Corum Admiral Watch at US $6,900 would be the perfect way to signal my arrival into this world.
Exposed to expensive and soft leather, as well as courted by the bright reflections dancing on pieces of shining jewelry, this is the way I intend to lead my life. As I read the events that transpired on my date of birth, I am struck by a realization that makes me smile. While I am aware that the event of my birth will probably not be as well remembered by others, the annals of history will always show that something happened that day. It may not be my birth that people will remember but it whatever memory people will have will always occur on the birth date.