2024, Fantasy, holidays, Mysteries

David Shepardson Day

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I like to think that I’m a fairly normal person but every now and then something comes up that makes me wonder if I’m just a few steps off the path.

When I was in the sixth grade, our school had a presentation by a troupe of presumably college students; they did some music and read some poetry – fairly classic late 60s kinds of stuff.  After the show, the students hung around so we could meet them.  I was with my two best friends that day – Linda and Kathleen – and we waited patiently for our turn.  The student that we met was named David Shepardson and he was gorgeous-looking to three sixth-graders, longish brown hair, little goatee, tie-dye t-shirt, sandals.  The full package.  I happened to be wearing a beaded necklace that day and David admired it; he held his beaded necklace up so we could compare and…. our fingers touched.  My girlfriends and I were all giddy.  I didn’t wash my hand for a day and a half and both Linda and Kathleen checked in with me about it.  They were both pea-green.

OK, so you’re saying to yourself, how is this unusual?  Lots of pre-teen girls are a little wack-a-doodle.  Here’s the difference.  56 years later I still have “David Shepardson Day” noted on my calendar on April 16.  

And since, by coincidence, I met my BFF on April 16, 41 years ago, I do often celebrate a bit.  This year I found a nice bunch of dark purplish flowers and took them up to her house, had tea and chatted for a bit.  I usually send her a card as well to commemorate.  During the visit on Wednesday, Sara and I realized that we’ve been celebrating David Shepardson Day a year longer than she and he husband have been married.

I often wonder how David Shepardson’s life turned out.  Did he end up pursuing music or literature?  Did he marry?  Have kids?  Travel?  Does he have “Sherri Carter Day” listed on his calendar every April 16?

Do you celebrate any holidays that yours alone?

37 thoughts on “David Shepardson Day”

  1. Fan-Piece For Her Imperial Lord (Ezra Pound)

    O fan of white silk,
                clear as frost on the grass-blade,
    You also are laid aside.

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  2. LOL, Sherrilee! Wouldn’t it be great if he chimed in on the Trail! Stranger things have happened…

    I’ve often celebrated the last day of school, or now our last UU service of the season, before our summer break. Book sale is coming up, so I’ll certainly celebrate that being accomplished.

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  3. Just our wedding anniversary. Nothing fancy. Usually a nice home-cooked dinner and a bottle of Champagne.

    Often we’ll embark on an anniversary trip around the date. Every 10th anniversary, we go to Toronto (our favorite Canadian city of the ones we visited on our honeymoon). 2028 will be our 50th, and our 6th time to Toronto. If we still can afford it, we’re going in style instead of camping in Darlinton Provincial Park our first time and agonizing over the cost of tickets to go to the top of the CN Tower. 🙂

    Chris in Owatonna

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    2. I tried searching him on Ancestry. Several David Shepardson’s the right age but none have a clear connection to St. Louis. If he was in college he could have come from somewhere else but I don’t have enough info to pin him down. One D. S. Is a Reuters correspondent.

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    3. I actually have not. Mostly just because I can’t imagine that there aren’t thousands of David Shepardson‘s out there. And while I still have a snapshot in my mind of our hands touching as I was holding up my necklace, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t recognize him after 56 years.

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  5. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I cannot think of anything except my aunt and uncle’s wedding anniversary (June 2, 1957). I was the flower girl which was pretty overwhelming to me. I pouted and cried during most of the event because I was sure another cousin was the actual desired person for this role–and her brothers told me that. Those two guys were such thug-boys. The addition of Uncle Jim to the family was an event that helped our family so much. He assisted with the care of my ill father and “uncled” us and parented his own children, as well. He and Aunt Donna deserve their own Holiday celebrated by all for being loving people.

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  6. I send cards to a handful of people on dates that are tied to their loved ones. One friend I send a card on her mother‘s birthday (her mother passed away many years ago.) I send Nonny a card both on her wedding anniversary and my dad‘s birthday even though he passed away in 2019. Couple of friends I send cards on their spouses birthday, although their spouses have passed away. I just like the idea that people know that I’m thinking of them on days that could be difficult for them.

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  7. So, if others have things that they celebrate for just themselves does that mean you’re not the only one who is a few steps off the path? I’m pretty sure I’ve been way off any beaten path for most of my life.

    Yes, because I have no family to celebrate all the major holidays with me I usually buy myself something for my birthday. One year a bike, another year a guitar. This year I have really done it! I bought myself a trip to Ireland and a lakeside condo in Two Harbors! Talk about self-indulgence! I think next year, if it is possible, I will just be grateful for all I have.

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      1. Thanks, Jacque. I was raised to be frugal while all I wanted to do was get the coolest new stuff. I’ve learned discipline, especially through the painful Waterville years. So, sometimes I think I deserve it. I have no heirs and my brothers and their families certainly don’t need any help from me when I’m gone, so why not live now?

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  8. Not celebrations but Remembrance Days. Father, Mother and Brother death days. Not their birthdays as they had zero going for them. But reflecting on their lives well led is comforting.

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  9. There aren’t many official holidays we noticeably celebrate, let alone private ones, but I always acknowledge November 19, the day Robin and I had our first date. It was just coffee but look where that led. This November that will have been 55 years ago.

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    1. Good for you, both. The odds against choosing a life partner at a young age and getting it right must be pretty daunting. Congratulations. ❤

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      1. It didn’t seem daunting at the time, but what did we know. The partner you choose determines the person you become, I think. We’ve both been adaptable and willing to become the companion each other needed.

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        1. I think that’s exactly right, Bill. I wouldn’t be who I am today without all of the mistakes I’ve made along the way. It really works both ways. It’s not so much the circumstances that you encounter along the way as it is how you respond to them.

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  10. I celebrate Irving our Feldman‘s birthday as does Jason Robart playing Murray in 1000 clowns. I don’t know when the birthday is, but it pops up on my calendar every year. I also celebrate the inventor of Velcro.

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    2. Which reminds me of cartoon I saw yesterday. A woman holding a phone is saying into the receiver:

      “My husband has fallen down in a coat with a lot of Velcro fasteners and I can’t get him unstuck from the carpet.”

      Cracked me up.

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      1. great mental image

        i once was at a thing where they had you put on a Velcro scuba divers suit and bounce on a trampoline on the floor to launch yourself up at a wall covered with the other half of the velco pairing it was a riot

        you could not get yourself off

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  11. I guess once I stop to think about it I also celebrate Kurt Vonnegut, Bob, Dylan EE Cummings, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and I’ll bet a few more will pop into my mind. The only birthday I know out of that bunch off the top of my head is Kurt an easy one 11/11

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