A Birthday Remembered

A Birthday Remembered

Love is not simple, love is not easy, but love is love and you should love the person you want to no matter how hard it can be. There is a lot of factors when it comes to love in the 70’s such as age, race and religion, but when everything comes to an end all this doesn’t matter.

The short story “A Birthday Remembered” deal with the family after the loss of a mother, a girlfriend and an ex-wife. Besides that, it deals with accepting love and homosexuality going hand in hand.

The short story is written in 1980 by the American author Ann Allen Shockley.

The title is probably called “A Birthday Remembered”, because Ellen have birthday on valentine’s day and the main topic of the text is love.

“A Birthday Remembered” probably takes place in the 70’s judges by their clothes. “…kicking of the high wooden wedge platforms”^[1] 

The story takes place in a middleclass society where money is an issue especially for the farther and husband Roger.  

The story takes place Ellen’s house, which are the narrator. We find ourselves in the mind of Ellen.

Ellen is a woman in her late thirties or early forties. She’s a very independent woman, who lives by herself in a small house. She has been living alone since her lesbian partner Jackie passed away, which was a devastating experience for her.  

Ellen is very tolerant and not at all judgmental. She is an emotional person and turns to a drink when she is feeling down. She is nostalgic and longs to be with her love, she miss Jackie very much. Ellen is a lesbian, which is something that Roger cannot accept. What made it even more upsetting is the fact that Ellen was not allowed to bury her lover since Jackie still was legally married to her husband Roger. Ellen is an independent woman, and she deals with the lesbianism and people’s intolerance, particularly Rogers. She works as an editor of the food section in a magazine and has written cookbook.