The Carlat family’s annual celebrations always kick off with Rob’s birthday on January 18th. When he was a little boy, he hated his birthday and we’d throw him parties where he’d cry and scream right through the cake and ice cream. We thought these tantrums were about him being adopted, but all these years later, I’m not so sure.

Then comes mine on March 24th and those have basically been okay, although I’m sure there will be some crying this time around. The funny thing is that up until recent years, Rob could never remember exactly when my birthday was.

He always remembered Zach’s, whose birthday is up next on May 15th, which has long been the happiest day circled on the Carlat calendar, mainly because Zach is the happiest of us all.

The two women in my life bookend the final celebrations of the year with Caryn kicking off the summer on June 22nd, and Maura ending the dog days on August 28th.

Of course, next year we’ll add one more significant date to the family festivities–the day Rob died, February 6th–perfectly situated between both of our birthdays.

What do you get the boy who got everything you had to give?