In Celebration of a Non-Existent Birthday

My son was too small for his car seat.  Blankie above helped.

Well, I could start with happy birthday to my son, Rafael, today, but I can't.  You see, my son was born about eleven years ago.  His birthday falls on February 29th, Leap Year Day.  Ah, yes, now you understand.  His birthday does not formally exist in the calendar this year.
 

I must recount this story:  

Once while I was in my elementary school days, I discussed with my mother about what it would be like to have a child with a birthday falling on Leap Year.  We talked about the weirdness of filling out applications.  When stating how old such a person is, what should he/she say?  If the child is four years-old as a Leap Year person, would he really be four, one or sixteen years-old?  I worried about things like!

Imagine my surprise when I started to bleed prematurely with my son (third child).  The last thing I thought about was the day of year this was happening.  I was worried that I would be losing my baby so during the ambulance drive, I thanked God for letting my child grow inside of me.  I was spiritually handing my child back to God.  Little did I know what a special boy he would become!

I gave birth a month early.  He weighed 4 pounds 10 ounces.  That number refers to one of the highways here in San Antonio.  It was as though God was saying, "You're headed for a highway."  He was also born at the turn of the century, in the year 2000.  Fortunately, his lungs were healthy enough to let him come home right away from the hospital.  

How old is my son now?  11 or 3 3/4 years-old?

In short, I thanked God that He would allow my baby to live on.

We have had our ups and downs through the years.  He was a premature baby who, I was told by the doctors, would be sensitive to too much stimuli.  Sure enough, he would get tired if his siblings played too much with him.  In car rides, his hairy back would cause him to sweat too much, and he would cry in agony.  It hurt so much to see him suffer so.

As he has gotten older, I have noticed what doctors would call hyperactivity in his personality.  He is also quick-tempered.  Many people don't understand him and often try to draw him out.  It is often a waste of time.  I would much prefer it if people just let him warm up to them.

I love him so much.  Rafael is very intelligent and uses a wonderful vocabulary.  He often comes to me and converses with me about his strategy and plans for his chores and schoolwork.  He comes to me when he has problems with his math or language arts.  I'm glad that he reaches out to me and hope that good habit remains within his life.

He plays with his baby sister, whom he had at first largely ignored when she entered our lives.  He explained his reasoning one day.  He chooses to play with her, even though she is five years younger than him.  It is because he knows what it's like to have no one to really play with.  His brother (my oldest) is four years older than him and has different tastes for games.

Even though many would frown on having such a cantankerous child, he will one day prove to be a wonderful young man.  He has so much to offer.  He is sensitive and often gets defensive in favor of his siblings.  His loads of energy will someday help him do his job with gusto.  I have faith that God has given me a wonderful emotional healing (the reason why I named him Rafael, meaning Angel of God that heals) when my mother was battling her cancer.

Anyway, we have celebrated his birthday on different days on different years.  Sometimes, we have celebrated it on the 28th of February.  Other times, we have thought to celebrate it on March 1st.  I think my son prefers that we celebrate on the first possible day, meaning the day before his rare birth date.

How about you, my readers?  Do you have any loved ones or friends who were born on Leap Year Day?  If so, when do you celebrate it?  Do you celebrate it on the 28th of February or March 1st?  Oh, what a dilemma!

Thanks for reading about my special boy.

God bless you all with His perfect peace, my beloveds.