Playing with Numbers
Mon., September 29, 12:06 PM
No, I’m not talking about the economy. I’m sick of that. Just numbers.
You may remember that I said that years ending in eight are memorable for me — in one way or another. I don’t expect it to happen. Rather, I look back and think, “That’s something else that happened in an ‘eight year.’” Most certainly I had not associated it with the appearance of Lila Belinda, who, for some reason, evokes more emotion from me than I remember with my own babies. She’s a real winner; I think she has been practicing to be a rhythmic gymnast. And she lives up to her names: Lila means of dark beauty, from the Persian; in Hebrew and Arabic, it means night. Belinda, from the Italian, also means beautiful. Naturally, since Belinda is for my mother, we know she will be a handful.
I really got into the numbers last Friday. To begin with, the last number of the Hebrew year coincides with the English for about nine months of the year. We are still in 5768, and Lila was due — more or less — after Rosh Hashana. In years to come, she will occasionally celebrate her birthday on Rosh Hashana.
Because I was born on the second day of the sixth month, I always considered two and six my numbers. Later I discovered that my Hebrew birthday was the 26th of the month of Iyar. Two plus six equals eight, of course, but the eights did not become evident until 1968, when they were popping up for no particular reason; even our initials, so many H’s, were eight. The day before we got married, my friend Gloria brought me a grocery receipt; she had paid $8.88.
Now, let’s see. Friday was September 26, 2008; it also turns out to have been 26 Elul 5768 on the Hebrew calendar. Having the dates coincide is the exception rather than the norm. Coincidence? Superstition? I don’t care; this one is mine!
U.D. has already notified most of the immediate world, but for those who haven’t seen her, may I present…
Lila Belinda — the first of many — photos, that is.
