BREWSTER: Titus Strausbaugh likes numbers.
Today, that’s especially noteworthy.
Titus, a home-schooled eighth-grader, celebrates his 12th birthday today — on the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012.
“It’s kind of neat,” he said Tuesday, sitting amid wrapped presents — a dozen, of course — from his parents.
Titus shares a birthday with some famous people, including Frank Sinatra, Bob Barker and Edward G. Robinson, according to an Internet entertainment site, but they don’t share the numerical oddity for their birth date.
In addition to milestone birthdays for lots of 12-year-olds, many people plan to mark 12-12-12 with induced births or weddings. The date will be the last of its kind until Jan. 1, 2101.
In keeping with the family tradition that whoever has a birthday gets to pick the dinner and the type of cake that mother Dawn Strausbaugh makes, Titus has asked for her homemade sausage pizza and cream puff cake.
To some, those two selections might not sound like a great pairing, but several years ago Titus surprised his mom when he asked for macaroni and cheese with sardines for his birthday.
Titus said he would like to follow his father in doing something with numbers when he grows up. Joe Strausbaugh works for B.W. Rogers in Akron as pricing manager.
“I kind of like accounting,” Titus said.
Along with Titus, his mother also home-schools Sarah, 15; Micah, 13; and Naomi, 7. Oldest son Matthew, 21, who also was home-schooled, now attends a Bible college in Florida.
Dawn Strausbaugh said life for 12-year-olds like her son should be a time of carefree fun and adventure. With that in mind, Titus asked for fishing lures and outdoor knives for birthday presents.
He likes to fish and explore the woods at the home of his maternal grandparents, Alvin and Lorena Troyer, in North Lawrence.
He also plays the piano and said he enjoys reading books about interesting figures in Christian history.
“I am thankful to the Lord,” Titus said, for letting him have a 12th birthday on the day when everything is about the number 12.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or at jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
