Leap year babies celebrate milestone

For the first time in four years, February will have 29 days, which makes 2020 a leap year. A leap day is added to the calendar to make the year 366 days long, because leap days are needed to keep our calendar in sequence with the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Without that extra leap day in February every four years, we would lose approximately six hours every year. Which also means, every 100 years our calendar would be off a total of 24 days in affinity to the established seasonal days, like the winter and summer solstice.

All of this means that leap years are pretty special, and they are even more special when someone is born on February 29. This year, those leap year babies finally get to celebrate their actual day of birth. The Ledger asked to hear from you leap year babies about how you celebrate this special day. We were lucky enough to find a few in our area.

Aliyah Massey, who lives in Hot Springs, is the youngest leap year baby we heard from. This year, she will be turning 16 years old. However, Massey’s real age is only 4 years old. The family usually celebrates on the 28th in a normal year. According to Massey’s Mother, Michelle, they usually take Aliyah and a group of friends to Missoula for a day of shopping and a night in a hotel. “This year is her sweet 16, so she gets to pick,” Michelle stated.

Carol Day resides in Plains and will be turning 60 years old this year. Day said she is only 15 years old in leap years. Depending on how the day falls that year is when Day decides to celebrate. “I usually just flip a coin,” Day stated. This leap year she plans on celebrating with a nice, quiet dinner.