Counting Down

See Gene Expression.

But note that for Catholic families the name day was often more important than the birthday:

We take little account of birthdays; we celebrate name days; after all, we are Catholics. The first time I really made a firm note of my father’s birthday was when he was sixty; and then we did celebrate the day, as is appropriate.
— Josef Pieper, No One Could Have Known

That this was the custom in Mr. Barzun’s family was confirmed by a letter to me about the dates of H. M. Barzun.