Success Happy

Why do people say Happy Birthday to the deceased?

I have always wondered why people say Happy Birthday when referring to the deceased. How can it be happy if the person is no longer living. We have holidays geared towards celebrating birthday when the people are in fact dead. How can it be Happy Birthday for people like Martin Luther King Jr or Presidents.

Public Comments

1. Why knock it? It's a free day off of work/school.
2. Because even thought they are gone they are being celebrated for having lived.
3. I guess it's all about remembering the time when they lived and to show they are not forgotten. So we celebrate a happy time in their life (their birthday, which is generally seen as a happy time for most people) (unless you're Shakespeare...) to divert our feelings from feelings of loss and grief. It's just a way to show they are still in our hearts. Would you rather celebrate the day they died?
4. It's a small, subtle way of remembering and honoring the dead person. Sort of a "you're gone but not forgotten" thing. With famous people, the holiday is intended to bring people to think about why that person was great and maybe carry on that person's work. Famous birthday holidays are sort of like Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. Obviously people are not celebrating that all those soldiers died, but are remembering and honoring the sacrifices they made in service to their country.
5. I'd be more than happy to forward your presents to them. I hear Thomas Jefferson wants an Iphone..
6. We are happy to have had him born.lo!