Here's a photo of me with my dad's dad William taken back in 1968. And a photo of my French niece Isabelle taken back in 1986. They have one thing in common over and above their connection to me. Here's a clue... in these photos their ages are 13 and 1 1/2 respectively... they are both lucky or unlucky enough to have been born on February 29. Granda would now have been 24 (although he is sadly no longer with us having died at 18 1/2.) Isabelle is now 8 (six years older than her own daughter!)
The thing is - when do you celebrate your birthday in the years when you don't have one? March feels wrong because it isn't even the right month. But your birthday is the day after Feb 28 so today feels wrong too. I can imagine as an adult coming to love how special that is. I can also imagine in my forties how nice it'd be not to have an official day every year when I age! But how you cope with that as a child, when your whole focus is on it, is beyond me! Anyway I hope my wee 8/33 year old niece has a lovely day today, tomorrow, around midnight or whenever it feels right!
The thing is - when do you celebrate your birthday in the years when you don't have one? March feels wrong because it isn't even the right month. But your birthday is the day after Feb 28 so today feels wrong too. I can imagine as an adult coming to love how special that is. I can also imagine in my forties how nice it'd be not to have an official day every year when I age! But how you cope with that as a child, when your whole focus is on it, is beyond me! Anyway I hope my wee 8/33 year old niece has a lovely day today, tomorrow, around midnight or whenever it feels right!
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