The Leap Year Baby, who should have been 55 but only celebrated her 13th birthday, loves throwing children’s parties and says she will stay “forever young”.
Liz Duren, 55, was born on February 29, 1968 (a leap year) and has always considered her unusual birthday to be “lucky” and “special.”
When this day rolls around every four years, Liz loves throwing kids parties. She throws a party fit for a 10-year-old, with a magician and games for her 44th birthday.
She will turn 56 this year, which will only be the 14th time in her lifetime, but she plans to throw an ET-themed party.
Liz, a podcaster and local historian from Charleston, South Carolina, says, “When I turned 44, I had my 10th birthday party.
“There was a magician and a game.
“I’m 55 years old, but I’m also 13.”
“I can stay young forever.
“I look great at 56, but not at 13.”
Ever since she was little, Liz has loved Leap Day birthdays.
When she turned four, her family threw her her first birthday party, and she ended up on the front page of the local paper.
If it’s not a leap year, Liz celebrates the next day, March 1st, and doesn’t mind if her friends wish her a happy birthday.
she said: “I’m so confused when all my friends are going to wish me a happy birthday.”
“I have two birthstones.”
“I’m really very relaxed about how people are going to celebrate my birthday.
“I’m trying to make the 29th special.”
This year, Liz will be performing in a play for her birthday and will be hosting an ET themed party that weekend.
She said: “I consider myself the luckiest person in the world.
“I joke about myself.”
Liz, an adopted child, also said that at the age of 44, she was able to track down her birth parents thanks to her unusual birthday.
She was able to track down her birth mother (who she doesn’t want to name) by contacting strangers on Facebook who went to her mother’s high school and imprinting her unique date of birth into their memories.
She was also able to track down her biological father, Harry Bennett, 83, with whom she now has a close relationship.
Liz said: “Through her adoption papers, we were able to locate her high school.
“I reached out to people she went to school with.
“We were able to bring back memories for people on dates.
“Since he was born on a special day, it was easy to find his birth mother.”
Liz hopes other Leap Babies feel “lucky” to have such special and unusual birthdays.
she said: “I have only met a few people on my birthday.
“I hope they accept it.”
