best friend help: what’s it mean if my best friend (who i’ve known her since 1st grade) always forgets my birthday? - Help.com

It means she is not paying attention. Start dropping hints. “Boy I can’t wait for my birthday next week! I wonder what my friends will get me. I sure would like some pink handcuffs…”

She doesn’t remember her friends’ birthdays but probably expects her friends to remember hers every year without fail. I don’t think she intentionally forgets your birthday. But then again, I don’t know your friend. You would know her better than us, so it seems you could tell us what you think it means.

Some people don’t celebrate birthdays, at all. I’ve always tried to appreciate my birthday, but I only had one birthday party throughout all my childhood, and had no idea what to do when I went to college and people had surprise birthday parties for me. I literally didn’t know what to do, and I just walked out, ducking under balloons, and went somewhere else.

Then, even more extreme, there was a girl trying really hard to be friends with me, but I almost never managed to call her back, and I meant to try to make up for it by visiting her or something on her birthday, but missed it and felt guilty off and on for months, then I finally figured out that in her family and weird religion, they don’t celebrate birthdays at all. Not a bit. Not even like me knowing it’s important but not knowing what to do, they don’t think it’s even important.