WASHINGTON — Mary Lea Forsythe of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, will celebrate her 100th birthday on Thursday, despite only ever celebrating 25 actual birthdays.
Forsythe is a part of a rare group of people called leaplings, a name for those born on Feb. 29 or Leap Day. There are about 5 million people worldwide who share the leap birthday out of about 8 billion people on the planet.
The 100-year-old was born on Feb. 29, 1924 — a date that only occurs every four years known as a leap year. Forsythe was recognized last week by the Centenarians of Oklahoma and highlighted on their social media page.
The centenarian is a passionate music fan and even plays the piano and mandolin, according to the post. She attended Sand Springs High School and was in the school's All State Chorus during all four years. Forsythe's favorite song is "Sitting at the Feet of Jesus."
Her 100th birthday celebration was hosted by the Osage Hills Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, ABC News reports. She is an active member of the organization.
Forsythe told ABC News that she would often celebrate her non-leap year birthday on days surrounding her birthdate, which would sometimes include her late husband's birthday, March 6.
Her husband was her high school sweetheart and they were married from 1942 until his death in 2011, ABC News reports.
What would happen without a leap day?
Eventually, nothing good in terms of when major events fall, when farmers plant and how seasons align with the sun and the moon.
“Without the leap years, after a few hundred years we will have summer in November,” said Younas Khan, a physics instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “Christmas will be in summer. There will be no snow. There will be no feeling of Christmas.”