The girl with the calendar mind

At the park while swinging my six-year-old brother, I heard a young girl ask a mother, “When is your birthday?”

“July 28,” the woman said.

“And she can tell you what day that was too,” said the young girl’s father. “Tell her – what day was July 28?”

The young girl thought for a second. “Saturday,” she said.

Evidently, she got it right. The woman smiled.

“What day was January 1?” a man nearby asked.

“Sunday,” the girl said. I remember that one. I knew she was right about that one.

“What about August 28,” the man asked, smiling.

“That’s today,” the girl said.

“My birthday was March 19,” said another lady. “Do you know what day that was?”

“That was a Monday.”

I had no idea on that one, so I remembered the date and looked it up when I got home. Sure enough, the girl was right.

I’d heard about this skill, people who can tell you what happened on any particular day. This was the first I’d seen and heard it in real life. And it felt especially cool since the girl was about nine years old and didn’t even seem to notice her skill.