Remembering Dates

Some dates just stick in my brain and I know them.  Others are allusive and I get them confused.  I will always know today's date.  Richard passed at the end of April.  In my mind I call up a picture of him mowing his meadow that day and how he enjoyed the smell of the grass.  He drove Barb over in the field so she could see how pretty it was.  I know Patsy left in late November but I have to look up the exact date.  She and Clayton left us the same year.  I have to look to see what year Richard passed.  It alludes me most of the time.  I always think--Clayton almost made 70.  I think Richard was only 68.  I know the date and year Dad passed but Mom's date I can't get right.  I seem to remember September 8 and it was the 6.  Sometimes I get the year wrong.  She died in 1992 and often I think it was 91.  I can always remember the day and year Grandpa Powell passed away--July 15, 1954.  I know Grandma died in January.  I know all the dates and years my brothers and sisters were born.  Why do some dates get etched into our brains and others fade away?   My brother Clayton died July 2, 2014 after enjoying a good hamburger with purple onion.   He went out fast like a rocket!  He was always lucky that way.