88 on 8/8/08

If you caught my Ramblin' in today's Gazette about Dorothy Malek of Independence turning 88 today, on Aug. 8, 2008, you know she's not a gambler but that 8 has played a big part in her life.

I remember back 20 years ago when 8 was really a phenomenon. People were lining up months in advance to get married that day so they'd remember their anniversaries. It was 8/8/88 and many people were setting the time at 8 p.m. and planned to have a short ceremony so they would say "I do" at 8:08 p.m.

For some reason, I don't recall a similar deal for 9/9/99, but there might have been. In that vein, we can look forward to 9/9/09 and 10/10/10. Anyone born Oct. 10, 2000, would be turning 10 on that last one. It would be a heck of a "Golden" birthday.

Still, reaching the age of 10 doesn't have nearly the significance of celebrating No. 88.

So, Happy birthday, Dot Malek. And many more.