Leap Day babies have hassles ahead
BY ZLATI MEYER
FREE
PRESS STAFF WRITER
March 1, 2004
Fernando Diaz wasn't even 1 second old and already, he
disobeyed his mother.
One of Detroit's newest residents, the 7-pound, 5-ouncer was
born at 10:22 a.m. on Sunday
at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit -- even though his mom, Piedad
Martinez, hoped he wouldn't
make his entrance on Leap Day.
"I didn't want him to be born on this date because it's
every four years," said the 26-year-old
homemaker.
Fernando was one of several babies born on Feb. 29 at metro
Detroit hospitals.
The infant is likely to have a lifetime of aggravation ahead
-- teasings about being one-quarter his
real age; missed birthdays; confusion buying alcohol and
cigarettes, if he so chooses, hassles while
renewing a driver's license.
His mom has solved the biggest problem facing "leaplings":
when he'll celebrate his birthday on off
years -- Feb. 28 or March 1.
"It depends which day is closer to the weekend,"
Martinez said.
Fernando won't struggle alone. According to the U.S. Census
Bureau, about 200,000 people in the
United States, and 4.1 million people worldwide, were born on
Leap Day. Among them are rapper
Ja Rule (1976), actor Antonio Sabato Jr. (1972), NBA forward
Chucky Brown (1968), U.S. Rep.
Bart Stupak, D-Mich. (1952), and orchestra leader Jimmy Dorsey
(1904).
"I have a better deal than most folks," said former
NASA astronaut Jack Lousma, an Ann Arbor
resident who technically turned 17 on Sunday. "I get calls
from some of my friends, because everyone
can remember."
Lousma celebrates on March 1, but gets an extra day of
birthday feting during leap years.
"I had a driver's license that was renewable on Feb. 29,
2003," he mused. "Every time I used it to get
a rental car, they would say it's an invalid license. . . . This
is the 21st Century, and we can talk to the
moon and 100 million miles away on Mars, but we can't figure
this out."
Lousma said he called the Michigan Secretary of State's
Office and had the expiration date changed to
March 1, 2007.
Eastpointe's Nicole Harper -- mother of Kyra Monet Harper,
born at 2:09 p.m. on Sunday at St. John
Hospital in Detroit -- was worried about hurt feelings, not
photo IDs.
The 30-year-old DaimlerChrysler employee said she and her
husband didn't want the baby to be born
on Leap Day. "She's special. I wanted her birthday to come
along every year."
Contact ZLATI MEYER at 734-432-6503 or meyer@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc. |
