Four and a half years

Posted on December 6, 02009
Filed Under Inspiration, Journal

As humans we are wired to look for patterns in nature, and my field of interest is patterns in time. Natural patterns are usually cyclical and often fractal, sharing symmetry at different scales. Some patterns surprise and delight you, but none more so than finding astounding symmetry in your own life. Let me explain...

A few days ago I became a dad for the second time. The baby came a few days later than predicted but arrived on a day with spectacular significance. My wife and I have birthday's that are exactly (to the day) six months apart, and in total there are four and half years between us. My newest daughter arrived, not only six months apart from my eldest, but exactly four and a half years apart. I'm floored, overjoyed and a very proud dad.

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3 Comments so far
  1. Johan E. Mebius December 7, 2009 12:49 am

    Congratulations!

    I guess you reckoned with the common calendar in mind. But then a pair of calendar days can be =exactly= half a year apart only in leap years.

    By the way: I also enjoy a nice birthday coincidence; my brother was born two days before princess Christina from the Netherlands and I myself was born two days before princess Margriet. Both of them are sisters of Queen Beatrix.

    Best regards: Johan E. Mebius

  2. John December 7, 2009 9:22 pm

    Hi Johan, thank you. You’re right, I didn’t make a full rata die calculation but numerically the values for day, month and year were exact, and that was pretty cool!

  3. George Cowie December 12, 2009 10:33 pm

    Congratulations. My first born arrived about 2 weeks later that expected. Lucy was finally pulled from Steph 2 minutes after midnight to have the same birthday as her grandmother.