She’s been waiting four years for this day

Wednesday will be a special day for young Antonette Gatke. It will be only the third time that she gets to celebrate her birthday on her actual birthday.

Antonette will turn 12 years old on Feb. 29. That makes her a leapling — a person born on leap day. The sixth-grade student at Howell Road School said she won’t do anything special this year besides going out to eat at T.G.I. Friday’s with her family.

Usually, Antonette celebrates her birthday on Feb. 28. Antonette said she was supposed to be born on Feb. 28, 2000 — at least that’s what her mother was hoping for — but came out a day late, giving her a unique birthday. “I feel like I’m special,” Antonette said. “I like it because not a lot of people have their birthday on the 29th.”

Antonette said she has never met anyone else with a Feb. 29 birthday. She said her brothers have been joking with her that she will only be turning 3 next week. While she does see herself as a soon-to-be 12-year-old, it’s not a notion she entirely rejects. In fact, she said, staying forever young is the best part about having a Feb. 29 birthday.