Crossley’s daughter Rhonda Schmidt, 63 , of Hamilton, was born on her father’s birthday, and later had three children, none of whom were born around her birthday. But each of her children went on to have at least one child born on Oct. 27.
“For a long time, we all got together to celebrate our birthdays,” she said. Even though Crossley may not always join them now, she said that celebrating with Dewey’s Pizza has become a strong tradition.
Each of her two daughters had a son born on Oct. 27 — Noah Purdy, 11, and Keatan Haynes, 7 — but she said no one thought that the coming twins of her son, Joel Schmidt, would continue the trend.
“Grandpa says, I want them on my birthday, so see what you can do, as a joke,” she said. “Next thing we knew, she was in labor.”
Crossley, 89, said he felt the date was especially significant as a Navy veteran, because Oct. 27 is also the military branch’s birthday.
There’s never any jealousy “that he knows of,” he said about so many family members sharing the same birth date. “There may be a dispute once in a while, but we get them ironed out.”
Krista Schmidt, mother of Eva Jean and Myla Kae, said she and husband, Joel Schmidt, knew when they woke up that morning the babies were coming.
“So happy birthday to everyone,” she said, smiling.
Even though it might have been overshadowed by the new arrivals, Haynes said his last birthday was fun.
“My favorite surprise was the two new babies,” he said, smiling.
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