So here’s something. February 29th is the rarest birthday on the calendar. Did you know that?
There is only a one in a 1,461 chance of being born on February 29th. This means that a leap year baby is more rare than an albino peacock, or purple carrots, or a totoaba fish.
February 29th babies are earthly rarities. And rare things are, by default, noteworthy. I know this to be true because February 29th is Superman’s birthday.
Superman’s real name isn’t Superman, of course. It’s Clark Kent. And, actually, if you’re getting technical, his true name isn’t Clark Kent, either. It’s Kal-El.
Kal-El was born on Planet Krypton. When he was a baby his birth parents sent him to Earth on an infant-sized spaceship shortly before the planet’s natural cataclysm. He was found by a farmer who named him Clark.
I know this because I am a huge Superman fan. And we Superman fans do not call him Superman, if you must know. We call him “Supes.” It is our way.
I am still a big fan. Currently, Superman comics litter my office. I have Superman statues everywhere. I collect Superman lunchboxes. I grew up wearing Superman underpants.
When I was a kid, every February 29th, I’d sit before our Zenith console TV and watch reruns of the “Adventures of Superman” starring George Reeves, who looked like a regular person, not like a professional wrestler. George Reeves looked like a guy who had put in some time around the queso dip.
The local station broadcasted Superman marathons all day on the 29th. I celebrated his birthday by watching each episode, clutching my figurines, dressed in my little Superman undies.
I had a crummy childhood. My homelife wasn’t the stuff of dreams. Mine was an abusive home. My youth was painted with suicide and gun violence. I failed a grade. I was not a smart child. I had bad teeth. We were poor. My mom cut my hair with World War II clippers. Blah, blah, blah. None of that matters here.
What matters is that every year on February 29th I was no longer a tragic kid. I was Superman’s friend.
Which leads me to you.
I can’t forget the day I met you, Becca. You were 10. And blind. You were born to drug-addicted parents who treated you poorly. You were a pinball in the Foster Machine before being adopted. You underwent open heart surgery, and more surgeries than I can count.
You wrote me a letter before you went to Saint Jude’s hospital for treatment. Your teacher emailed the letter. I read it.
And I knew I had to meet you.
I traveled to Boaz, Alabama, which isn’t the edge of the world, but you can see it from there. We met for lunch.
You were in a rocking chair outside the restaurant. White cane. Your little eyes closed. You were as big as a minute. Ponytail. Velcro shoes. Scar on your neck. And we hugged.
You didn’t know me. I didn’t know you. But we hugged. Long and hard. And somehow, I knew my life would never be the same.
And you probably don’t remember this. But as we ate our lunch, I asked when your birthday was.
You cheerfully replied, “I was born February 29th.”
Well.
Move over, Supes.
11 comments
Susan Jordan - February 29, 2024 10:30 am
Happy Birthday, Becca!! 🥳🤩🥰
Fran Decker - February 29, 2024 12:58 pm
Happy Birthday Becca and Supes
Jude - February 29, 2024 1:33 pm
Happy Birthday Becca. I dont know you personally but think you are wonderful!!
Sean’s stories explain you to a T.
I hope you have a glorious Birthday and same to Supes! So many great birthdays are ahead.
Julie Hall - February 29, 2024 1:42 pm
The best!! That is all.
Quay Brown - February 29, 2024 1:48 pm
Happy Birthday Becca, keep smiling.
pattymack43 - February 29, 2024 8:31 pm
Birthday Blessings to Becca!!! May our Lord fill her day with an abundance of love, good wishes and blessings!!
Vince - March 1, 2024 1:03 am
Happy Birthday Becca! You are in good company! And u share a Birthday with Superman!
NancyB - March 1, 2024 3:31 am
Birthday Blessings, Becca!
Tricia - March 4, 2024 1:26 pm
Thanks for a well written heartfelt story. I’m from Wales UK, was looking for superheroes born same day as me 🥰
MaryD. - March 18, 2024 2:16 am
💜
Rich DeCristofaro - March 20, 2024 3:20 pm
Thanks, Sean. I never knew Superman was a leap-day kid, but I learned (in my 30’s) that we had one in my own family.
My grandfather (RIP) was born on February 29 a century ago in a country that didn’t record February 29 on official documents – it messed up the system. So, since he was born after noon, they wrote “March 1” on his birth certificate. (If he’d been born before noon, they’d have written February 28.) His kids didn’t even know he was born on Feb 29.
After a stroke on what we all thought was his 80th birthday (Mar 1), the team at the hospital asked him when his birthday was. He answered “yesterday”. In some dismay, my mother reminded him that his birthday was today, March 1. He insisted that his birthday was the day before and told us that we’d always just celebrated it on March 1 because it was easier.
No one knew what to think for sure, but when my mother called my great-aunt Louisa (who still lived in the old country) to tell her about the stroke, Louisa confirmed that grandpa was born on leap-day, but folks just glossed over that sort of thing back then.
He survived the stroke and got to celebrate a half-dozen more (incorrect) birthdays with us, and we told this story every time.