Lady Gaga

There are two men I know who were both born on Christmas Day a year apart from one another. (I'll call them Bob and Steve.) These men do not know each other. They live in different states. As far as I know, they have never met.

Bob and Steve do not live in the states in which they were born. They both lost their fathers at a young age. Both ended up joining the military (Navy for Bob and Special Forces for Steve) and went to the Middle East. Both men have been married twice. They had no children with their first wives and fathered a son and a daughter with their second wives. Their sons have the same first name.

After leaving the military, they became involved with their respective churches. They both have a penchant for teaching. They even look a little bit alike. It almost makes one wonder if they have some sort of parallel connection by being born on December 25. Could it be true? Who knows?

"What does this have to do with anything?" you're probably asking. "And what's the point?"

The point is, I was born on Lady Gaga's birthday.

When I first found out, I was a little miffed. How could she have stolen my birthday like this? True, she was born three years before me, but it still felt like the sanctity of my birthday had somehow become destroyed in my mind. Lady Gaga is strange. She wore a meat dress. She has political and religious leanings that are very different from my own. She and I couldn't be anything alike, right? The parallel-life birthday theory I had regarding Bob and Steve couldn't possibly hold true for the two of us.

But then I began to dig a little deeper. What I found spooked me.

This was me in 1997. I was wearing hair curlers and decided to stuff fake flowers into them. Because why not?

 

This was me in 2003 doing an Emperor Palpatine impression.

 

 This was me in 2004 portraying a denizen of Middle-earth.

This was me goofing around in Drama Club after school in 2005.

 

This was me and a friend in Drama Club, also in 2005.

 
This, too, was in 2005. It must have been a good year.

Conclusion: Lady Gaga and I both like to wear funky costumes. BECAUSE IT IS FUN.

The similarities run even deeper. I have always been fond of the arts. I studied piano for ten years and acted for two during high school. And, obviously, I write; and have done so for as long as I can remember.

We both attended Catholic grade schools, where we got picked on for being "different." Our professional names are not the ones our parents gave us at birth. We are both human rights advocates (though our respective causes are very, very different). We both are fond of Freddie Mercury. We like to contribute to charities. I'm sure there's more, but that's all I'll discuss for now.

So DO people who share a birthday share similar traits? Some would say it isn't Christian to think such things, but what if it's just part of God's sense of humor? I don't see what would be wrong with that.

And now readers, I ask you this: Do YOU know of people who fit into the parallel-life birthday theory? Tell us about it in the comments!