52 Ancestors Week 29: Birthdays

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 29 is "Birthdays." Is there an ancestor with whom you share a birthday? (My dad and his sister shared a birthday -- and, no, they weren't twins!) You could write about an ancestor that had a lot of birthdays or a memorable birthday party. Don't forget newspapers. Small-town newspapers especially would have stories about birthday parties or "milestone" birthdays.

So many balloons. Somebody get me a needle!

    Birthdays have always been a big deal in my family for as long as I can remember. I wrote a blog two years ago about the awesomeness that was my grandfather Robert Hamel's 90th birthday celebration in June of 2013. Check it out! That, my friends, was the tip of the iceberg because we often pulled out all the stops when it comes to the birthdays of our friends and relatives. Though, being a Christmas baby it was often difficult for me to have a birthday party right between Christmas and New Years when most people were tired of parties. That's okay. We still had a great time in early January or mid December.

Three generations of Robert Hamel. The baby's
the odd one out. 

    Even though I don't share a birthday with any direct ancestor that I know of, there are still quite a few people in my tree who get to celebrate their birth on the same day. For example, my Uncle Bob shares the same birthday as his daughter, Katelyn. Katelyn's son, however, ALMOST has the same birthday has his mother and grandfather! So close....

    I'm not exactly sure how that happened but at least three generations can celebrate on the same day! Is it a coincidence or is it something more? Let's see if we can find any other bizzare coincidences in my tree and see if the universe is just playing some kind of cosmic joke on us all!

    To do this, I've enlisted the handy dandy anniversary list found on Wikitree.com. That saves me a LOT of time. I have thousands of people on my tree on Ancestry. Do you really think I have time to find them all?!

    I look at my list of December anniversaries (In late July no less) and the only person on there who matches my exact birthdate is Angela Tedesco, daughter of my fourth great-grandparents, Tommaso Tedesco and Cecilia Cassese. 

    Unfortunately that's basically it as far as birthdays that are remotely close to mine go. At least in July we'd get to celebrate the following births:

* My 2nd great-grandfather Marco Ferraiolo on July 1st.

* My great-aunt Nicolina on July 21st. She would have been one hundred this year. SO CLOSE!

* My 2nd great-grandfather Antonio Tedesco on July 23rd.

* My great-aunt Elaine on July 28th.

    Wow. How's that for an amazing coincidence? Two great-aunts on different sides of the family share the same birth month. You'd be spending a lot of money at Edible Arrangements and Hallmark that month! 

   

     The coincidences don't just stop there. One of my aunts and another uncle ALSO share the same birth date. At this point you might as well buy a Hallmark rewards card, right?

    There are other remarkable coincidences in my tree and to cover them all would take some time. It's fun to see them all on WikiTree's anniversary list and let's be honest if you have living relatives on that list like I do, it's a great way to keep an eye on when everyone's birthday is! Well, that and Facebook. That also helps!

 

    Birthdays in my family have always been special occassions and it's fun to check out who all shares the same special day. I still don't know if it's a coincidence or a pattern at this point. Ian Fleming, the author of James Bond, once said "Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern." I look at my uncle Bob, Katelyn and her son and I definitely see a pattern. You know what that means right? Save your money in July to buy them all presents!!! Your wallet may hate you but the smiles would be worth a lifetime!

See ya next time!