HAVE you ever met a 15-year-old Grade Four educator who has been teaching for 30 years? Confused much?

Well, meet Fiona Dua of Durban North who was born on February 29 in 1964, and because she was born on a leap year, technically, she has only celebrated 14 birthdays – and her 15th is coming up.

“People find it funny and joke around that I’m a 15-year-old educator. The children I teach also find it amusing,” she said.

This year is rather special, though, as Dua hits the milestone of turning 60 and will get to celebrate on the actual day she was born.

“Every 20 years, I get to celebrate a milestone. I had a 20th, 40th and now 60th, which I am really looking forward to as my sons and family are joining me. One of them lives overseas so we will all be together after a long time,” she said.

Growing up, Dua said her mom chose to celebrate her birthday on February 28.

Her mom’s explanation was that Dua was born in February and not March, so it made sense to celebrate her birthday in the second month.

“Whenever it was a leap year, my mom made sure the celebration was extra special,” she said.

Dua continued this tradition by also hosting celebrations with themes that either matched her actual age or leap-year age.

“When I turned ’13’, I incorporated a teen theme into it. I always celebrate and make it as fun as possible,” she said.

“It doesn’t bother me at all that I only get to celebrate my actual birthday every four years. It never did. What I love most about my actual birthday is that I will hear from people that I don’t usually hear from on February 28,” she said.

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