Birthday Boy?

First off, I want to thank everyone for the many birthday wishes I have and will receive over the next two days. An interesting side effect of having a leap year birthday is that three out of four years, I receive messages that say, “Happy Unbirthday” or “Happy Birthday?”. Even my closest friends and family aren’t always sure how one celebrates a day that isn’t there. So, every four years, it is fun to see such confidence in my friends’ “Happy Birthdays!”  

As many of you know, I have always had a small fascination with the fact that one’s birthday celebrates not just their own birth but also their personal completion of the 580 million mile journey around the sun. If you multiply your age times this number, you get a really impressive number of miles travelled in your life. It is of course relative travel but I think its cool. For leap year birthdays, the question is always asked, “when there isn’t a 29th, when do you celebrate your birthday, Feb 28th or March 1?” And the answer, in my opinion, is both. In my entire life, I have only been born once (thank you Mom) and that was in the month of February.  There is no part of me that identifies with having been born in March. However, if we return to the idea that a birthday mark’s the completion of a celestial lap, on non-leap years, I’m reaching for the finish line on Feb 28th but complete my lap on March 1. For instance, the state of Wisconsin did not recognize my 21st birthday until March 1st despite me trying to buy a beer on Feb 28th:). Now, every fourth year, this oddity is resolved and I get to celebrate both my birth (thank you Mom) and the completion of my personal solar lap on the same day.  

On this day of February 29th, 2024 in Sydney, Australia, I am again fortunate enough to celebrate the day of my birth (thank you Mom), however, we are on the opposite side of the international date line from where I was born.  The date here is a day ahead of where I was born. So, although we are happily celebrating the day of my birth (thank you Mom)… the finale of my personal lap around the sun is actually tomorrow… which will be March 1st here in Australia and Feb 29th on the West Coast of the good old USA. On my 12th birthday, I remain 11 for some more hours. 

So, this year, “when do you celebrate your birthday” remains a complicated answer.  Perhaps doubly so, as the birthday wishes I have already received were sent on Feb 28th in the U.S. and received on the 29th in Australia… which is, of course, actually the same day.  I imagine more birthday wishes might be sent tomorrow when the 29th arrives on that side of the world and I’m well into March 1st:).  So, for the best answer to when a leap yearer should celebrate, I will embrace the wisdom of my Mother.  Her advice is that all people, leap year and not, “should always celebrate for a week.”  That way, there is no pressure to have a good day, a great day, or bright side a challenging day.  By celebrating for a week, one has the time to be grateful for another successful lap around the sun.