Only, for the 3rd year in a row, I had actually completely forgotten it was his birthday. I swear on a stack of chocolate, I have done this three times in a row. I have also done it twice on Father’s Day - called him just because, only to remember halfway through that it was Father’s Day, and trying (badly) to play it off as if I had remembered all along.
Yesterday, though, we talked for half an hour before he finally said “Uh, I think you’ve forgotten to tell me something.” I was perplexed… What could I possibly have forgotten to tell him?
“Think about it,” he says, and before he finishes his sentence, the date flashes in my mind’s eye. D’oh. We had a good laugh about it.
What’s funny is I only talk to him about once every two months or so, so it’s not like I talk to him every week and just happen to catch his birthday. I guess something in my subconscious must whisper something to my waking brain to tell me to call him, but forgets to actually tell me why…
Mundane? Pointless? Oh yeah…
For my Dad and I it is the other way around. I will say “happy birthday!” “happy Father’s Day!” etc, only for him to say - “Oh yeah! So it is. I’d forgotten…”
All he wanted, TMINC, was “Hi, Dad! I’m happy and doing well and I love you!”
“Happy Birthday?” “Happy Father’s Day?” “Happy Anniversary?” “Merry Christmas?” WHO CARES? Check in a few times a year and remind me that we were both once young, and that I taught you well, and that as I grow ever older, I’m still at least a little bit important. Tell me something I said that you remember that came in handy today. Pretend you’re not calling because of an underlined date on a calendar. Don’t be a dutiful daughter. For Pity’s sake, be a loving one.
Sounds like you are one, and your Dad’s a lucky guy. TMINC shall forevermore denote " Tell me I’m Named Cordelia."
Hey my Dad’s birthday was Aug 9th and my Mom’s was Aug3rd. (Sadly that is past tense for both of them.)
What the Soup King said made me remember something.
One year Uncle Sam sent me across the country for school. It was around the 12th that I remembered I hadn’t called home in a month or two. I felt bad I missed the birthdays, but worse when I realized I haden’t called in so long.
That was very sweet, KoS. Although I’ll (abashedly) admit that the Cordelia reference is lost on me…
My father and I have a great relationship. 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have believed we ever would, but at the risk of sounding trite, he’s become one of my best friends. My father is remarkably anti-social, and hates-hates-hates talking on the phone. Somehow, though, we manage to pull off multi-hour conversations (I think our record conversation clocked in at 4 hours long) about everything under the sun, and laugh hysterically the entire time. Our interests are so alike, yet our personalities remarkably different. I think that’s what makes us such a great pair. 
King Lear. The only one of his daughters that stuck by him (the other two wanted total control over the kingdom he had abdicated and split.)