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November asks, ‘Who you callin’ ordinary?’

Well, this is it.

The last Sunday in November.

In the Catholic church, we take note of this particular one as the last Sunday in “ordinary time.”

As if poor November hasn’t been through enough already from all that overshadowing by its adjacent months with their flashy holidays that completely look down their noses at Thanksgiving — and at the 11th month in general. (Please see last week’s column for a refresher. #StopShoppingOnHolidaysPeople. I digress.)

According to a recent article by ThoughtCo (www.thoughtco.com), it’s referred to as ordinary time not because it’s not important or special. #DontFeelBadNovember

No, the end of November is considered the last bit of ordinary time because it’s the last day / date / period, for a while anyway, that we’re not observing something deemed exceptionally extraordinary.

Clearly, this declaration of “ordinary time” occurred before people started designating a national holiday for every single stinking day of the calendar year. If you don’t believe me, search it. It’s probably like National Wear-Your-Socks-on-Your-Thumbs Day or something. More digressing.

ThoughtCo puts it this way: “Ordinary time refers to those periods that fall outside of the major liturgical seasons, which reinforces this impression … not for being unimportant or uninteresting.”

See? Regular November days matter! Just like, um, Jan. 28 or April 6, you dig? Every day’s important. It’s someone’s birthday or anniversary. It’s someone’s first time driving or swimming or dancing or riding a bike or… got it, peeps?

I can’t help but think of my little Grami (my mom’s mom) whenever this topic is raised. That’s because one of her favorite songs was Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”

I’m getting to a point, I promise.

You remember this song from 1984, right? Although some people claim the legendary singer / songwriter penned this with the underlying and ultimate purpose of becoming a phone jingle (which it did, BT dubs, and much, much later, it also became the audio star in a Chevrolet Cruze spot, as well. Hmm.), it is, at its core, a love song.

As Stevie’s accountants continue to tally up the royalty checks I’m certain he receives TO THIS DAY from AT&T, and now Chevy, I’ll give you a quick debrief of the song.

He spans the course of a calendar year, in an effort to tell his sweetie pie what day today is NOT. These notables include Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s, the beginning of the summer solstice, or a perfect wedding Saturday in June. He clearly states in one telling line: “In fact, it’s just another ordinary day.”

BAM. Ordinary.

Despite this, he goes on to tell his true love how it’s still a wonderful day because it affords him the chance to reach out and touch someone (couldn’t resist), er, to tell his significant other how he feels for her.

So, yeah, today might be ordinary, but for someone, it’s the beginning of their forever with the person they’ve been waiting for their entire life, know what I mean?

Believe me, every day is fabulous and unique — if we choose to make it so.

One thing’s for sure, some regular old Sunday at the end of November when your staring down the quickly approaching end of your OWN autumn season, you just might miss some random summer’s day in 1984 when you and your beloved little grandma danced around your kitchen singing Stevie Wonder’s latest hit.

And you’ll wish like the dickens you could have that ordinary day back, yo. #MakeEveryDayCount

Kimerer is a Tribune Chronicle columnist who’s just writing to say she misses and loves her Grami. Check out her other sappy thoughts at www.patriciakimerer.

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