I have a friend who thinks the reason I become emotional when the anniversary of some event that had a profound effect on my life rolls around is that I “dredge stuff up” – i.e., my awareness of the date prompts me to revisit the event.
I think it works the other way for me a lot of times – I’m aware that I’m being more emotionally reactive than usual, and then it dawns on me that the anniversary of this or that event is looming.
What about you? How often does the anniversary prompt the emotion? How often does the emotion cause you to remember the anniversary?
I’m female, BTW. My friend is male.