9

My dad is obsessed with the idea that our family is somehow connected to the number 9. I’m afraid to say that that obsession has been passed down to me. It started with easy things, such as a birthday having a 9 in it. (My dad’s is on the 29th.) Then it started to get spooky and widespread. In fact, the more we looked for it, the more the number 9 started to crop up. Of course, I’ll have to explain the rules as to what makes it legitimate.

1.  The number 9 is physically in the entity in question.
2.  The numbers in the entity add or multiply to the number 9.
3.  You can’t subtract or divide the numbers in the entity to arrive at the number 9.
4.  Mathematical operations cannot be performed for more than one iteration to get the number 9. (Such as my soccer jersey number, which was 28. I could divide 8 by 2 to get 4. Then, I could add 8, 2, and 4 to get 14. I could divide 4 by 1 to get 4. Then, I could add 4, 1, and 4 to get 9. While creative, this is not valid. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time on the bench…lots of time to think.)
5.  Any logical separation of the entity can be used to arrive at the number 9. Such, as you can take merely the month and day of a birthday without using the year.

Now, some examples of places this has occurred in my life:

• I was born at 9:33.
• My apartment number is 29C.
• I used to live at 549 Marino Rd.
• My cube number is 2070.
• I park in spot 81.
• I have been married on the 18th, 19th, and again on November 2, 2003. (Can’t see the last one, just add up 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 3.)

It’s not just me, though:

• My stepmother’s birthday is on February 7th.
• My dad and stepmother were married on April 23rd. (Again, 4 + 2 + 3.)
• Heck, my dad's favorite baseball player of all time, Ted Williams, even wore the number 9 on his jersey.

I’ll stop there, as that constitutes the perfect number of examples. (Think about it.) I predict this pattern will continue in our lives. It seems harmless enough, but it’s interesting to see it in action. I wonder if your life has a common number. Have you ever thought about it?