GREENSBORO, N.C. - For 18 years, Carl Webb has never missed a birthday.
The 99-year-old picks up the phone everyday, and calls a handful of people from his church, Westminster Presbyterian, who have birthdays that fall on that day. Webb then belts out 'Happy Birthday,' and lets them know they're loved.
He got the idea when he started attending the church almost two decades ago. He saw a list of birthdays posted up on a bulletin board. He was starting to have trouble getting around, but he hadn't lost his gift: his voice.
"It didn't strike me right at the moment, but the following week - a light came on," he said, "Carl - you can sing happy birthday to people. And I started it then, and that was 18 years ago. I get a great joy out of being able to do that."
Webb estimates he's made between 35,000 and 36,000 phone happy birthday calls, and averages about five calls per day.
"If you know him, you know his words and you know his authenticity, and his sense of joy - it just all comes through the phone," said Pastor Ernie Thompson.
"Many people will say, 'nobody remembers me on my birthday, and I get your call and it just makes my day,'" Webb said, "When people come up to me and they say that, it makes my day."
This year, Webb wasn't able to make it to church for his birthday, but the congregation certainly didn't forget about him. They recorded a video - where everyone at the Sunday service sang 'Happy Birthday' to him, like they do every year.
"Everybody has a gift," said church member Emily Black, "Everybody has a gift to share and at 99 years old, if you can see that you have a gift, and you can make somebody’s day better, what a life lesson that is to other people."
Webb says he's got no plans to slow down - he'll being doing this as long as he can sing. He started singing when he was four years old, and for most of his adult life he sang in choirs at church. He was even part of a barbershop quartet in the 1950s called the "Gate City Four."
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