What's in a celebratory date?

Today it's Juneteenth in the U.S. It's also Corpus Christi, a Catholic religious holiday in Brazil.

I couldn't possibly start talking about the significance of those specific dates. According to another powerhouse Brazilian philosopher, Djamila Ribeiro, I may not be standing at the adequate place (lugar de fala) to do so. And I acknowledge that wholeheartedly. I do want to talk about celebratory dates in general, though. One of only two regrets I have in life was having argued with my dad on Father's Day, at around 12 years old, because he wanted the whole family to go to church to celebrate it and I wanted to stay at home, doing whatever you could do at the computer in the 1990s. He insisted that it was important to him, but I didn't budge from my rational position that I could still love him without going to the premises of an institution that already seemed full of contradictions to me. My Mom, My Dad, my brother al went. I didn't. Upon their return, my mom told me that Dad was feeling a bit hurt about my absence, which in turn made me feel very bad for causing him grief. In true 12-year-old fashion, I drew card with a flower and a cute and loving message and coyly gave it to him by way of apology. I like to think that did it (at least in a small way). My mom is the opposite of my Dad in that regard. She calls Mother's Day "Commerce's Day" and has an automatic reply for any greetings we can give her that day - Mother's Day is every day. Perhaps one less celebration to think about! The last one I want to comment on is March 8th, International's Women's Day. All the way while growing up this date made me feel very uncomfortable. I am a Woman, today is Women's Day but I didn't do anything to "deserve" the greetings, gifts and other celebratory activity around the date. I understand it to be a day that marks achievement and fight, not just fluff, but still failed to see where I, in particular, was inserted into that context in a way that my specific life path could be connected to it. Well, not anymore. Receiving medical treatment AND founding a company, as disparate initiatives as they seem to be, shows you very quickly how deep the differences between being a man and a woman indelibly shapes the outcomes of your efforts. I finally know without a doubt where I stand now. And that's not even getting into the plight of our LBGTQIA+ siblings, which opens up a whole additional framework that needs to be addressed when talking about gender differences. For today, I join you in celebration if you honor Juneteenth or Corpus Christi! Let me stick to to this point.