10-05-2025
Birthday coincidences: Two friends discover strange Mother's Day connection
It seems the universe always finds ways to connect humans to each other.
At Ozarks First, it only took a few minutes of chatter before we found several coincidences surrounding birthdays and other big occasions among coworkers, friends, and family.
It all started with talk about Mother's Day. Ozarks First Bailey Strohl shares the story of two former international students at Missouri State University in Springfield that share a rare connection between each other's home countries.
Rafael Vite Fuentes is originally from Mexico and came to Missouri State for college. That's where he met Ozarks First anchor Bailey Strohl in 2018. They married in Springfield in March 2020.
But long before their love connection began, Rafael and a fellow international student from Bolivia, Anelisse Torrico Moreno (Garner) discovered a unusual connection between their birthdays and Mother's Day.
It's been at least a twice-a-year discussion ever since.
Anelisse was born on May 10th, which is Mother's Day in Mexico. Rafael was born on May 27th, which is Mother's Day in Bolivia. What are the odds! Anelisse also happens to be a triplet.
The unusual link got us at Ozarks First thinking, what other birthday connections are out there?
Watch the full video above to see what stories we gathered and learn about the ancient history of birthdays.
Bailey Strohl has her own family tie when it comes to the day she entered the world. She was born on June 25th, her father's birthday, along with his identical twin.
Ronald and Donald Strohl graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1978.
Bailey's half-birthday also falls on Christmas, which happens to be Ozarks First's digital producer Tony Nguyen's birthday.
In the full video above, Nguyen also shares his family and an ex's birthday connections surrounding Halloween, Cinco de Mayo and April Fool's Day.
Another Ozarks First digital producer Drew Tasset shared the unusual story of his birth. His mom and dad were attending a friend's one year old's birthday party when his mom went into labor three weeks early and he was born a few hours later.
You may have also heard our Chief Meterologist Jamie Warriner is a twin. He and his brother were born one day before their dad's birthday.
The legendary Tom Trtan also shared some family lore. He tells us his mother was born in the Chicago area, the same day fugitive John Dillinger was caught and arrested by the FBI. His family says its an ongoing joke that there could only be one 'public enemy number one,' so after his mother was born, Dillinger had to go.
If you have a strange birthday connection, we want to hear about it! Send an email Bailey Strohl at BStrohl@ or Tony Nguyen at ANguyen@
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