We celebrate the birthdays of highly accomplished people, whether they be saints, artists, athletes or political leaders. We do not celebrate the day that they died.
Yet on the day that any individual was born, they have not yet accomplished anything. They are, at that point, all potential, no accomplishment.
But on the day an accomplished person passes away, they have accumulated a lifetime of achievement, sometimes towering achievement. Given that we are celebrating what they managed to accomplish while they were here on this Earth, might it not make more sense to celebrate them on the day that they left?
I realize that this may be a controversial idea. 🙂