We all want our birthdays to be memorable, and we usually do that by having celebrations or parties with our close friends and relatives. However, have you ever had a birthday where you did something amazing? Something that’s truly remarkable and unforgettable?
Well, these people sure have! They did things that are from from the usual stuff birthday celebrants do on their special day. They celebrated their birthdays by conquering some amazing feats or by doing something extraordinary. Below is a list of some of these people, and may it inspire you to do something incredible on your birthday as well.
This personal trainer ascended the Santa Monica Stairs 100 times.
Matt Richter-Sand, a personal trainer, did something to raise awareness for the American Diabetes Association, and he did it on his thirty-first birthday. He climbed the Santa Monica Stairs a hundred times, which he stated is equivalent of climbing the Empire State Building more than ten times, in March 2013.
Matt mentioned, “Our lives are never stagnant—at any given moment, we’re either moving forward or backward. Every year that passes is another opportunity to turn it all around. I want to start my thirty-first year with a bang!”
This boss turned his company into a gift for his employees.
It’s typical for the birthday celebrant to be the one receiving gifts. However, Bob Moore gave his whole company to his employees as a birthday present on his eighty-first birthday.
His 209 employees now own the place along with its cereals, bread mixes, and 400 offering of stones-ground flours. Bob, the owner of Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods, unveiled the Employee Stock Ownership Plan on the day he turned eighty-one in 2010.
The company’s revenue was estimated at more than $24 million in 2004, while in 2010, a company news release reported that the company had gained an annual growth rate of between 20 to 30 percent every year since. However, the exact worth of the company is still unknown to this day.
Paying off his mom’s mortgage was the best gift for him.
A Canadian man of Ethiopian descent and a YouTuber, who goes by the username iProjectAtlas, decided to celebrate the day of his birth by “celebrating the woman who gave me life” in May 2013.
He was able to save some money each month until he had enough to pay off his mother’s mortgage, despite earning only $30,000 a year at the time. He then captured on film the heartwarming moment when he handed the check over to his mom during his special day.
Skydiving is this Holocaust survivor’s ideal birthday.
Gary Lenzner turned eighty-five in 2011. The Holocaust survivor, who got away from a concentration camp in World War II, proved that not Adolf Hitler nor age itself was able to put out his flame by transforming his birthday to an adrenaline-rush thrill.
Lenzner free-fell for about 40 seconds before landing safely by parachute on Nichol’s Field in Jamul, east of San Diego, USA. As he jumped out of a plane at 10,000 feet in the air, Lenzner said, “I’d like to prove the son of a b*** didn’t succeed.”
According to Lezner, the skydive was carefully planned because certain family members would’ve “gone crazy” if they were aware of his daring plan. That’s why it took nearly a decade for his wish to come true.
“You only live once. Once you’re dead, you’re dead” was Lenzner’s reply when he was questioned as to why he wanted to skydive at such an age.
For this 100-year-old woman, the best way to celebrate her birthday was by skiing.
Elsa Bailey celebrated the first day of her 101st year by doing a promise she made a decade ago: she went skiing at Arapahoe Basin on a Saturday. She also did this when she turned ninety and went skiing again after celebrating her hundredth birthday dancing and dining with friends.
Bailey defined the philosophy of her adventurous life by saying, “Just keep plugging, and you’ll make it.” She has also been skiing for 75 years.
From India to Africa, she had an adventurous spree from different parts of the world while skiing, whitewater kayaking, scuba diving, and hiking, as she worked as an occupational therapist. She went to Brazil and visited a healer who, she said “didn’t do anything,” and she did this in the last fall all by herself.
When she got back from South America, she rode the Space Mountain roller coaster at the Disney World in Florida. She rode it five times because she thinks it took her down to the dark, although she admitted that it was indeed scary.
By abseiling down a building, this 99-year-old woman celebrated her birthday with a thrill.
Ninety-nine-year-old Doris Long from Hayling Island, Hampshire, celebrated her birthday by abseiling down an eleven-story tower block in May 2013. It’s not the first time she has done this though. In fact, she abseiled for thirteen times since she turned eighty-five. Doris Long even received a recognition for being the oldest person ever to abseil.
Long described her experience by saying, “The weather was good this time. It wasn’t windy, so I didn’t swing around like a pendulum up there.” She scaled down Portsmouth University’s 110 ft. (35 m.) Mercantile House to break her own record and raise money for Roans Hospice.
Here’s a footage of Long from 2010:
Jumping off a bridge on her birthday is no problem for this 102-year-old woman.
Dorothy Custer, a 102-year-old woman, BASE jumped off a bridge in Idaho to celebrate her birthday in June 2013. She took a tandem leap with Sean Chuma, a BASE pro, and leaped off the 486-foot-high Perrine Bridge in Twin Fall.
Custer also zip-lined to mark her 101st birthday and had planned a thrill-free 102nd until her family weighed in. This amazing grandma told reporters that the secret to longevity is “action.”
Incredible, huh? So the next time you’ll be having a birthday, think about what you can do instead of simply throwing a party. You might end up doing something you’ll remember in your lifetime.
Had fun reading? Try this one out: This Little Girl’s “Last Birthday” was No Ordinary Celebration … This Will Bring a Tear to Your Eye