EFFINGHAM, Ill. — Raymond Shuler turns 100 this Leap Day. Or 25, depending on how you look at it.

That’s because the eastern Illinois man is a leap-year baby born on Feb. 29 — which only shows up on the calendar every four years.

“Everyone who knows him thinks he’s special because of that,” said his wife, LaVange Shuler, 91.

Leap-year babies say that having the elusive date of Feb. 29 as a birthday has been interesting. In Shuler’s case, his family has designated a birthday celebration each year during the last weekend in February.

Whether rightfully celebrated or not, Shuler and other leap year babies may feel like one in a million, slighted each year that Feb. 29 doesn’t appear on our calendars. However, according to reports, an estimated 187,000 Americans were born on Leap Day, also known as Feb. 29, and another 4 million worldwide share the birthday — numbers that are far from forgettable.

Despite leaplings’ acknowledgement that their birthday has often been forgotten over the years, their situation has also come with its share of entertainment. Some leap year babies explore the irony of having a birthday every four years, while the rest of the world is treated to the amusing anecdotes of those who otherwise have to observe their birthday on March 1.

Getting to that 100-year milestone, technically, has come as a shock even to Shuler himself.

“I never expected to be 50, let alone 100,” he said, explaining that his parents and siblings didn’t live long lives. “I had nothing to make me expect to live to be this age.”

“I’m glad he’s still around,” his wife added. “I never dreamed either of us would reach the age we have.”

Shuler says his prosperity isn’t due to any special diet tricks or workouts. It’s because of his wife, he says.

“I’ve had LaVange around for almost 70 years,” he said. “That’s been a big part of it. She’s still a lot of help to me.”

Polanski writes for the Effingham, Illinois Daily News.