THIS HAPPENED TO ME| LEAP YEAR
Celebrating and Finding Meaning on My 11th Leap Day
A story about my most recent bonus day
I’m turning 42 this August. I did some math leading up to this special day that only happens every four years. Today is my 11th Leap Day celebration. I don’t remember much from the past that was eventful from this day. The past 10 Leap Days have been forgettable aside from the extra day in February.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool when we get a bonus day in February. When there isn’t one, the calendar for February and March looks the same for the first 28 days. It’s just I always feel underwhelmed with the day but I’ll share the highlights and positives of this day and the whole month in general.
This is my first Leap Day to celebrate on Medium. I’ve never published a story on the day until this year as I’m also celebrating 2 1/2 years on the platform this month.
I was up until 7:00 am this morning so I was up when the calendar turned from the 28th to the 29th. I woke up at 4:30 pm today so I’ll likely be up when this extra day flips over to March 1st. As in the past, I had to reflect and struggle to figure out what has happened today to be considered memorable. Luckily and happily, there are some victories to report.
The biggest victory of the month was the successful fundraiser that my friend on Medium, Elle Becker, helped coordinate last month. We could always use more money as the fundraiser is ongoing but we now have enough money to at least get our roof fixed and we’re grateful for the continued outpouring of support and love around us as we get closer to being able to start the repairs.
With this story in February, it’ll be the first time in seven months that I’ve written an average of over one story per day. This is the final story to complete the Monster Alley Writing Challenge for February. Thank you again so much to The Accidental Monster for this wonderful challenge and for just being a good friend in general.
My best-performing story from that challenge, if you’re curious, was my interesting story about the jersey color and association with the teams I’ve rooted for in the Super Bowl in the past and present. By the way, if you want to go over to read that story, I correctly predicted that the 49ers would lose to the Chiefs yet again.
I also managed to write a fiction piece that I’m particularly proud of. It took a couple of hours and made it to 16 minutes (approximately 4,000 words) but I had fun and elevated that prompt in the challenge with the creativity and energy I brought to it. With the month coming to an end and me getting a bonus day to write, I feel super happy and accomplished with how the month went as a whole with my writing.
This day also must be lucky because I went to the bathroom today after someone clogged the bathroom toilet at camp a few days ago and it looks like the clog was addressed today. I could go to the bathroom in peace and not worry about the toilet.
I’m also celebrating the day in a sense with a special meal. Mike’s making us fish fillets with rice noodles and peppers. Noodles, in many Asian cultures, are a food that can symbolize long life. Although I am sick and don’t feel that vibe from my body, I still try to enjoy and participate in the superstitious traditions passed down to me by my mother.
This Leap Day, despite only having about four hours left to enjoy has been relaxing and chill. We slept through most of the sunlight days but the twilight hours within the day still give us time to enjoy what we have and to celebrate in our way. I think now with this being our third Leap Day together as a couple, we’re celebrating that in a way too, by just enjoying each other and appreciating how far we’ve come.
We’re looking forward to our 10th anniversary at the end of next month. Leap Day may not be any more special to us other than the extra day every four years, but if you look closely enough, you can find your own meaning from it and celebrate the small victories contained within it moving forward.
We won’t get this day for another four years so it’s just nice to reflect on the day and just the journey of this month in general to truly appreciate it. I think that Cartoonist Bil Keane sums up today the best. He meant this for every day but it feels like this applies so much to today the most.
“Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”
