Emma Long is
having her 24th birthday
today. She will celebrate
with family and friends,
including her
great-grandnieces and
great-grandnephews, in a
small gathering at her
Austin home.
Gery
Henderson's 13th birthday is
today, and he says he'll
probably retire this year.
Long, who
became Austin's first female
City Council member in 1948,
and Henderson, who works for
the Texas Department of
Agriculture, are among those
who officially celebrate
their birthdays once every
four years when February
includes an extra day.
It's hard
to say how many Austin area
residents were born on Feb.
29.
The Honor
Society of Leap Year Day
Babies, an online community
based in Oregon, says about
200,000 U.S. residents are "leaplings."
Every
Friday night, Long invites
friends to her house for a
game of "Poverty Poker."
Today's game will be more of
a celebration.
"If
someone in the game goes
broke, well, they can stay
in the game until they win
again," said Long, who is
turning 96. "No one has to
stay out. They just can't
bet."
Long was
born in 1912 in Lefors, near
the town of Pampa in the
Texas Panhandle. Her parents
were ranchers. She said the
secret to longevity is in
her genes and does not
include a daily exercise
routine. "I'm just here,
living and enjoying life."
Henderson
said he will celebrate his
birthday in a louder way
than Long will. He has
planned an age-appropriate
party to enter his teenage
years: an
astronaut-pirate-pajama
pizza party.
Henderson
joked that he is looking
forward to spending the next
28 years in his teens. The
52-year-old said he'll have
his first legal drink when
other people born in 1956
turn 84.
"That
first drink is going to feel
therapeutic," he said.
