National Zipper Day Heart Warrior Incisions and Inspiration
National Zipper Day is not one I ever thought I would choose to celebrate. National Ice Cream Day, National Pizza Day, National Beach Day, sure, all of the above!
Then again, I never thought my daughter would be born with critical congenital heart defects and require open heart surgery twice before she was 1. Life happens. Through this turn onto the heart mom road, I began celebrating National Zipper Day heart edition.
Previously I didn’t even know there was a National Zipper Day. While zippers themselves are pretty cool and worth recognition, that is not my main point here. There is a connection to CHD.
A day to celebrate zippers means something special in the heart community. After my daughter joined the zipper club, National Zipper Day took on a novel significance.
It’s nothing wildly important, however, it can be fun. And it’s another excuse to appreciate heart warriors for all they’ve survived and help raise Congenital Heart Disease awareness.
Let’s get into all things zippers – the traditional kind and the heart warrior version!
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When is National Zipper Day?
National Zipper Day is on April 29, 2024, and is recognized annually on this date.
What is National Zipper Day?
National Zipper Day is a day to recognize and appreciate the invention of the zipper.
Brief Zipper Invention Story
It’s easy to take things for granted when something is normal for us. Can you imagine a life without zippers? It’s a funny thing to think about since today zippers are everywhere. Well, once they were not.
How many times do you use a zipper in a day? On your pants, jacket, purse, backpack, and countless other items. Today, zippers are normal, however, they weren’t always.
The zipper got its start as the “Automatic Continuous Clothing Closure” in 1851 created by Elias Howe. It took some time before it was popularized. In 1893, Mr. Whitcomb Judson and Colonel Lewis Walker launched the Universal Fastener Company and debuted the “Clasp Locker” at the Chicago World’s Fair.
An electrical engineer for the Universal Fastener Company, Gideon Sundback, innovated on the design and is credited with creating the modern-day style zipper in 1913. It was patented as the “Separate Fastener” in 1917 and later renamed to zipper when the B.F. Goodrich Company used the design on their boots.
Source: Smithsonian Libraries
What does this have to do with CHD?
That’s great, but where are you going with this?
In the heart community, a zipper refers to a scar left behind from heart surgery. After open heart surgery, you join the zipper club.
Some medical and patient communities refer to any and all surgery scars as zippers.
In the CHD community, typically, a zipper refers to a larger scar from the incision to perform heart surgery.
For a sternotomy, the midline incision goes right down the center of the chest. This is a common place for a zipper on a coat, zip-up sweater, and other clothing. So this is where people strongly relate an open heart surgery scar to a zipper. As if the surgeon just unzips the chest and zips it back up after the surgery is done. (Not to make light of the significance of this surgery.)
National Zipper Day Heart Warrior Style
If your heart child has joined the zipper club, you can use National Zipper Day to recognize their bravery. There are various ways you can celebrate this day to appreciate your warrior’s zipper.
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Ideas to celebrate
- Tell family and friends about National Zipper Day heart version and why it matters to you
- Make a social media post to explain the significance of this day for your warrior
- Make a cake or cupcakes with a zipper
- Wear a zipper shirt, explain why, and talk about CHD to anyone who will listen
- Read a book to your child about heart surgery and their zipper
Is this really necessary?
No, it’s not necessary! Don’t feel any sort of pressure to give it even 2 seconds of thought if you don’t have the capacity or interest.
Zipper Day is another one of those “holidays” we seem to be celebrating more and more every year. There’s a day for everything and something every day. It can be a lot of pressure to feel like you need to show up for all of them. And you really do not need to.
Furthermore, open heart surgery can take a financial and emotional toll on a family. The physical scars can be a reminder of this, and some families try to forget rather than call attention to it. That’s okay. There’s no right or perfect way to navigate life with CHD.
The argument for celebrating
Those with CHD go through so much – more than most people ever have to face in their lives. They climb mountains and brave battles, and unfortunately do not come out unscathed.
Living with such prominent scars can be challenging for those with CHD. Certain ages and situations (e.g. in middle school at a pool) may be tougher than others.
I’m scared my daughter will sometimes be ashamed of her scar. I fear others will make fun of it and make her self-conscious about it.
If there are additional opportunities to encourage those with zipper scars to embrace them, I want to support that effort. I see the zipper as a symbol of strength and resilience. And I hope in appreciating it for what it stands for, my daughter garners the strength to do the same.
Any day, any reason to celebrate my CHD warrior is a good enough reason for me.
National Scar Appreciation Day provides another opportunity to generate awareness and acceptance of our warriors’ scars.
Spreading CHD Awareness Through Zipper Day
Congenital Heart Defects affect more people than most of us realize. While we make extra efforts to highlight this and raise CHD awareness during Heart Month, for those impacted by CHD, every month is Heart Month. Not only February. We fight, we advocate, and we work to raise awareness for CHD.
There is no cure for CHD. Congenital Heart Disease is a lifelong battle. Heart warriors have the scars to prove it. I wish everyone who needs open heart surgery wears their zipper with pride.
It’s an amazing thing, to survive open heart surgery. The scar is a symbol of this strength.
Zip it up
National Zipper Day was created to appreciate the inventor of the zipper. If you or someone close to you are affected by CHD and needs open heart surgery, National Zipper Day holds an extra special meaning.
In the heart community, many refer to the main scar left over from heart surgery as a zipper. Surviving open heart surgery and battling Congenital Heart Disease for your entire life is not easy.
National Zipper Day can be a fun and lighthearted way to call attention to these warriors. An additional opportunity to celebrate them, and appreciate their zippers, as a reminder of their strength. Furthermore, National Zipper Day helps start more conversations about Congenital Heart Defects to further our efforts of raising more CHD awareness. Let’s celebrate the zipper!
