Father and son both born on Leap Day celebrate their rare birthday
Feb. 29 comes around once every four years, and now Fred Shekoufeh is turning 15, while his son Eric is finally 5.
There is a 1 in 1,461 chance of having a leap year birthday, ABC News reports, and when Eric was born on Feb. 29, 1996, Fred's now-ex-wife told him the baby was his birthday present. "I realize how valuable it is to be born on this day," Fred told ABC News. "Mentally, I'm one of those guys who consider themselves young."
Eric, a student at UCLA, makes the most of his birthday situation during non-leap years, celebrating on both Feb. 28 and March 1, while Fred sticks to just Feb. 28. Eric said people often crack jokes when they find out he was born on Feb. 29, and "it's really cool when I actually do have a birthday. There's way less confusion."
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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