Like so many of us, I have a lot of my family and friends’ birthdates in my phone’s calendar, and I have it set to notify me when a loved one’s birthday is on the horizon. I prefer to tell myself that “I have so many family members now, and combined with all my friends, I can’t possibly remember all those birthdates anymore.” But truthfully, I’m probably just getting too lazy and too dependent upon my phone reminding me. I tend to take the easy way out when it is available.

Recently, it faithfully did its job and sent me a birthday reminder. One of my sisters was turning a year older the next...