Faith Through the Journey

One of the significant things about February 29 is that it doesn’t occur every year, only once every four years. For most people, the date doesn’t take on much importance, other than that they have an extra day on that fourth year. For people who have a significant event on that date, however, the date always presents a big issue. What happens, for instance, to people who happen to be born on that date? When do they celebrate their birthday on the years where there is NO February 29? And how old are they REALLY? Is it legal for a person who is,” technically”, only 4 years old, to get a driver’s license? Or do they have to wait until they are 64, when they “technically” turn 16?

The date of February 29, 1984, became a huge issue for me personally because I was expecting my first child in mid-March. If he came before the due date, he could very well be born on February 29. We were living in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the time, and we were having a winter similar to the one the area has experienced this year. Two months earlier, I had already experienced a rather harrowing moment when my car slid down our driveway backward and came to rest against our mailbox post. In a matter of a few minutes, ice had coated the driveway, making it impossible to get all the way into the garage. Being 6-1/2 months pregnant, I was completely panic-stricken, trying to figure out how I was going to get out of my car and safely into the house without falling on the ice. Eventually I crawled up the sloped front lawn and got in the front door without mishap. One of my good-Samaritan neighbors got the groceries out of my car (my reason for being out in the first place!) and a few days later my husband got my car righted without damage.

Two months later, I had learned my lesson about going out when the threat of more winter weather was predicted. I watched out the windows for hours as the snow piled up–again. My husband was making “one last out of town trip before the baby was due”, sure that he would be home shortly. However, Grove City, Pennsylvania was getting even MORE snow than Cincinnati was, and he called me after he arrived saying that they were now snowed in there. I kept thinking, “Of course you are! And it’s February 29, and I’m snowed in in Cincinnati, so OF COURSE the baby will probably come tonight!” I proceeded to call all of my neighbors (many of whom had just had babies themselves), making sure they knew I was by myself and getting closer to my due date every day! I was working on the baby’s room, praying all the while that this baby would PLEASE wait until my husband made it home. God was gracious in granting my request for an on-time delivery.

The happy ending was that our son did, indeed, wait until mid-March to make his appearance. Had he come as early as his sisters later did, I would have been in serious trouble on February 29, 1984! We later found out that one of the couples in our childbirth class DID have their baby on February 29. That “child” will turn 8 next year!