Yesterday was Jackson's birthday. (Happy day, Jackson!) My own is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I will hit the big 61. Since there has been a lot of attention to birth certificates lately, I have been tempted to post mine online, just in case anyone wanted to nominate me for anything.
But a few things made me reconsider.
1) As the immediate family knows, the State of Georgia did not record my live birth at the time I was born. It was not until six years later that it issued a birth certificate so that I could start school. And on that certificate -- the "original" in some sense -- it listed my date of birth correctly in one place -- May 19, 1950 -- and incorrectly in another -- September 1, 1956. The one I now have and that I use for things like getting my passport, has only the correct information. I hope it will stand up to scrutiny should I be nominated for anything or, for that matter, when I become eligible for Medicare and Social Security later this decade.
2) There was also some question about Daddy's birth date in Georgia. For years we thought it was in October, but then those meddling Feds discovered while processing his application for a job that he had been born in September. Some members of the family, including I think his mother, insisted on the October date, but the official record says September. I am thinking maybe no one born in Georgia will ever be able to prove conclusively that they were born there at all. So I am not going to stir up anything on that count.
3) Since some people near and dear to me have had their identities stolen in the past, I figure there is no need to put any more personal information out on the internet than is already there. I was in fact shocked to discover, when looking for an image to illustrate this post, all sorts of birth certificates that people have put online. So not only is their personal info floating in cyberspace for any and all to see, but anyone who wants to fake an official-looking document can probably do it fairly easily using one of these as a template.
Anyway, happy birthday, Jackson. May you and Riley and Brinkley and Brooke all grow up into a world where this stuff is no longer an issue.
2 comments:
Michael, darlin'...my daddy had the same thing on his birth certificate- two diff dates and it caused him all MANNER of problems when he retired with SS and the Railroad retirement board. I'd def start working on that stuff now rather than later- it took Daddy about 2 years to get it straightened out and start collecting all his benefits. Dang Red tape.
Sunny,
Fortunately the birth certificate I now have from the Peach State has the correct information in all the places it is supposed to have them. I am a public employee, as were/are many family members -- so I never underestimate the problems red tape can create!
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