The Olympics starts on August 8th at 8PM for a reason. August 8th 2008 is an auspicious date. In Chinese, the number 8 is pronounced “fa” or “ba” (depending on the dialect) which means prosperity. As James Fallows noted in the Atlantic Monthly a year ago, many Chinese couples have been planning weddings for this special 8-8-8 date.

Celebrate and give a boost to your own good luck and prosperity! This is a good day to Celebrate Life!

We will be toasting to prosperity at 8:08PM

08-08-08 is also my husband Ray's 55th birthday. I am a very lucky woman to have found him and this is an opportunity to give my thanks.

My friend Kathryn Jones wrote from New York:
"I wish I could be with you in gorgeous Hawaii for Ray’s prosperity birthday…and I am so grateful for the spiritual kick in the tail that your post has given me. I too will be toasting on 8/8/08 at 8:08 (perhaps both am and pm…why not?) to celebrate the wonderful love, friends and inspiration that are both already mine and yet to come!"

I found posting about this on my blog wonderful, because it gave me an opportunity to collect well-wishes from friends around the world.

If you wish to see the original post please go to: http://itsdifferent4girls.com/blog/2008/...

Let me share this comment left by my Dad:

who’s to say
what to say
on ray’s birthday
but to clear away
the surface of words
and dig into the depths of the soul
where truth lies dormant
until it is awakened
and whispers
this is a man of kindness
and compassion
whose name generates goodness
and integrity
whose presence is always
one of pleasure
so mark this day
as a reminder
of who he is
for it embraces
all the days of his life.