Monday, February 29, 2016

HAPPY LEAP DAY



Leap Day February 29, 2016 is here. How will you spend your bonus day? 

I have a couple of cherished memories about how I’ve put mine to good use in the past. Both stories come out of my mistakenly comingling Sadie Hawkins and Leap Day traditions.  The first story from February 29, 1972 is published today in the Philadelphia Inquirer.  http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20160229_The_Big_Apple__Frank__and_Sadie_Hawkins_Day.html
 
The other story is about Leap Day, 1980, a few months after I met Jim. Many of you know, it was love at first sight for me, and, for him, love at not so fast.
 
By February 29, 1980, Jim has been calling often for long phone chats, but hadn’t asked me on a "real" date. Eager to move things along, I decided to have some fun with the Leap Day tradition that a woman can propose marriage and if the guy declines he has to buy you a dress.  

This was back in the day of dot-matrix printers, when computer paper was a continuous role of pale green and white stripes with pin holes on the side. With help from a computer savvy friend, I created a 10+ foot banner. Because I mistakenly thought Sadie Hawkins Day was another name for Leap Day, the banner I mailed off to Jim said, “JB, Beware of Sadie!!!”  
A little forward? Maybe, but it got the point across. Still took him until June to ask me out on that first “real” date, but from that day on, he knew, even if I got the tradition wrong, he was my Mr. Right. 
 
And, he still is. BEST USE OF A BONUS DAY, EVER.  
 
Enjoy and make the most of your bonus leap day.

Here's the link to my story in the Philadelphia Inquirer: