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
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:
I read your column in the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning, and it took me back to a day in 1962, when I was much younger and life was so much simpler. I recall getting several invitations to a "Sadie Hawkins Day" dance at my high school and after accepting the first invitation, found out that the prettiest gal, one whom I was most fond of -- had hesitated to ask me quickly -- and therefore I was honor-bound to decline her request. It's only too bad that the "rules" were not well-known back then (as hand-me-down rumors and myths so often are). As it turns out, my life might have been changed if I'd waited to respond to the first invitation. I might have ended up marrying that girl if I'd only known then how she felt.
ReplyDeleteBut that was a long, long time ago. All I can say is thanks for the memories; you put a smile on my face today, which was most welcome after facing some bad news first thing this morning.
Thanks for stopping by to share your story. I've heard from a number of people who remember Sadie Hawkins dances. I don't remember them, and I'm not sure where I got my mistaken version of SH.
DeleteGlad you enjoyed revisiting your memories.
best,
carol