MOSS POINT (Feb. 29) -- Today marks Leap Day, February 29, the only day that comes around every four years as part of an adjustment to keep calendars in line with Earth's annual trek around the sun.
That makes having your birthday pretty awesome. Still, it's your day, and it's rare that anyone can claim that day as their own, except for the late Pope Paul III and singer/actress Dinah Shore, rapper/actor JaRule, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, and a few others.
Three Leap Day babies -- Henry Wilson, Elizabeth Mitchell Ludwig, and Vanessa Toncrey Nell -- recently met each other as adults. They were all born Feb. 29, 1956, at Biloxi Hospital, according to Sun Herald. The three, 60 in actual years, turn 15 in calendar days.
Still, Feb. 29 is a day that's all theirs. In fact, if you're born on Leap Day, it makes that day almost uniquely yours because few people share that day with you.
Most leaplings have special parties and do extra things to compensate for missing that birth date the other three years. They celebrate either Feb. 28 or March 1.
Ocean Springs resident Becky Seymour Gatian said her family celebrates for three days -- Feb. 28, Feb. 29, and March 1. She is 56, though 14 in leap years.
But what happens when the whole nation celebrates the holidays on your birthday? It makes day a curse and a blessing, according to some Mississippi Coast residents who were born on national holidays. All the attention is on that event being observed, and birthday honorees get lost, sometimes even forgotten, in the celebration
Having a birthday on a national holiday is special, but it also can make the day common to the individual, less uniquely theirs, according to some residents. All attention is on that event being observed, and birthday honorees get lost, sometimes forgotten in the celebration.
For others, the blessing is that everyone is partying on your birthday. No only that, the parties are bigger and better than a celebration for an individual, meaning more food, presents and people. And no one forgets your birth date.
Every month of the year features a national observance, some officially holidays, some cultural observances, some obscure but accepted with no particular impact on the rest of the nation. Some holidays are state-oriented or even regional events, such as Mardi Gras that is known nationally.
While everyone else pops firecrackers and toasts the New Year, Evelynn Stephens, said celebrating her January 1 birthday has not been a big deal over the years.
"We were Holiness and they didn't really believe in celebrating birthdays and things like that," she said.
Famous folks born on Jan. 1 include American Revolution hero Paul Revere, American flag-designer Betsy Ross, R&B singer Jessica Jarrell, actor Morris Chestnut, and about 50 others.
Harold Johnson of Gulfport is really proud that he was born January 15, also the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., though King's birthday is observed nationally on the third Monday of January.
"It makes me feel like a king," he said.
King's national birthday celebration is one of several floating observances for dates. And if your birthday happens to fall on the third Monday of January, its on a national holiday that particular year. The same floating holiday is true of Sunday dates for Mother's Day in May and Father's Day in June, and the Thursday observance for Thanksgiving in November.
Mark Hollins of Moss Point said being male sometimes made celebrating his birthday disappointing and seemingly unfair.He was born Feb. 14, Valentine's Day, which is a cultural holiday celebrated across the country as the day for husbands and wives and couples.
"It was kind of bitter sweet because I'm a guy, and when I really realized the significance of Valentine I seemed obligated to get something for someone else on my birthday," he said.
"The majority of women think its for them," he said, though his ex-wife did give him birthday presents sometimes.
As well, Hollins' wedding anniversary was on Valentine's Day. "That made it even worse. That made me have to give even more."
Former teacher Korei Rembert Grey, who now lives in Memphis, said her birthday is on April Fool's Day, April 1, and when she learned of it as a child she thought it was special.
"I guess I don't really consider it a holiday," she said.
April Fool's Day is not an official holiday, but more of a societal practice that gives a green light for people to play practical jokes and pranks on each other. People expect something to be done, and usually take the pranks in good humor.
"My students couldn't believe I was born on that day," she said when they first learned of her birthdate. "My students always tried to play a prank on me."
Sometimes, Grey would prank others by letting them thinks it was a practical joke when they didn't believe she was actually born on April 1. "Then at the end of the day I would tell them it really is my birthday."
She knew of two other classmates who were born on April Fool's Day.
Then there is Easter, one of two holiest days on the calendar for Americans. The date itself cannot be claimed because it falls on the first Sunday after the first full money occurring on or after the spring equinox.
EXTRA SPECIAL BIRTHDAY(S)
Grandmother Brenda Vance just dotes on her grandsons Jimmie and Jeffrey Bevans, who live in New York. The 18-month-olds have one of the most unique birth dates of most identical twins, something even more special than Feb. 29.
Sometimes, Grey would prank others by letting them thinks it was a practical joke when they didn't believe she was actually born on April 1. "Then at the end of the day I would tell them it really is my birthday."
She knew of two other classmates who were born on April Fool's Day.
Then there is Easter, one of two holiest days on the calendar for Americans. The date itself cannot be claimed because it falls on the first Sunday after the first full money occurring on or after the spring equinox.
EXTRA SPECIAL BIRTHDAY(S)
Grandmother Brenda Vance just dotes on her grandsons Jimmie and Jeffrey Bevans, who live in New York. The 18-month-olds have one of the most unique birth dates of most identical twins, something even more special than Feb. 29.
Born during summer 2014, Jimmie arrived at 11:47 p.m. July 23 while his brother Jeffrey was born exactly at midnight July 24, according to the clock and our Gregorian calendar.
