Eric Fisk has been counting down the years and days to his 11th birthday.
All birthdays, especially for children, are special. But for Eric, his birthday will truly be exceptional — or at least out of the ordinary.
Thanks to an alignment of digits, Eric celebrates his golden birthday today to the fifth power: turning 11 on Nov. 11, 2011. What’s more, the Mason boy was born 11 minutes before 11 a.m.
The math doesn’t stop there: Eric calculates that Veteran’s Day, the day upon which his birthday falls, is 11 letters long. So too is World War I and II, when you spell out the digits, he says.
“It feels really cool,” said Eric. ”I don’t think many people get the chance to have a birthday that’s all one digit. There’s not many chances of that happening.”
Eric’s father, David Fisk, said he and wife Tammy didn’t realize the full coincidence of Eric’s birth date and time until about six years ago, when they needed to make a copy of his birth certificate.
But it was Eric, they say, who realized the significance of his golden birthday — the day when he turns the age of his birth day.
“He’s literally talked about it for five to six years,” said David Fisk. ”It’s really been something he’s been looking forward to.”
Eric, an avid sports buff who’s in the fifth grade at St. Margaret of York, already celebrated his birthday with friends at Great Wolf Lodge.
He asked his guests to skip the gifts and instead bring $11 donations for family friend Rob Hertzel, who’s battling Stage 4 colorectal cancer.*
“He’s a sensitive kid to start with, but to give up birthday presents for an 11-year-old kid, that’s a lot,” said David Fisk. “It meant the world to the family and it certainly meant the world to his mom and I.”
The best part of his unique birthday?
“Being able to talk to my brothers (Bradley, 18, and Kyle, 16) and show it off,” he said with a giggle.
David Fisk says Eric’s birthday is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of event that may be the talk among the family for some time.
“This is certainly his moment to shine,” he said. “We may buy him a lottery ticket with at least one number 11 in it.”
* Update: Family friend Rob Hertzel lost his battle with cancer on Friday afternoon — on Eric’s birthday. Eric’s dad, David Fisk, says, “The timing of Eric’s gift to Rob and his family is a wonderful life-lesson for Eric. Rob had a gift of making everyone around him feel very special, and Eric felt important around Rob. I think they will have a very special bond from now on and one that will always be remembered on 11/11.”
