Breathe
By Marilú Acosta
It is, was, would have been? my mom's birthday. The date still is, she was born on that day, regardless if today her status in this social network called reality is that of the deceased. It is her birthday, it was a day of celebration, she would have been 77 years old. Death, among other things, brings with it problems of verb conjugation, because the end of her life does not end with the beginning of her life. A friend tells me: his birthday is no longer his birthday, he no longer has a birthday, and in the case of historical characters the matter is settled with the word "natalicio".
The only birthday I can immediately locate is March 21, the beginning of spring and an official holiday because it is the birthday of Benito Juárez (Oaxaca, 1806). His death is not celebrated as vehemently as his birth, do you know what day he died? I had to look it up on Wikipedia, he died at 66 years old from a heart attack, on July 18, 1872 in the National Palace, after fourteen years as president of Mexico. The annals of history say that he died "in his sober quarters". How sober can the rooms of a Palace be? Anyway, it has been 151 years since he died and he was honored on July 18, from the National Palace. However, the most important day is his birthday.
