Today is my twelfth Leap Day!
On my eleventh, I shared this post, which was adapted from an earlier version that I wrote for The3Six5 writing project,on February 29, 2012 (my tenth Leap Day). I am including parts of those two posts again today, as they are fun to revisit.
It’s fascinating to reflect on my life in four-year segments, to recognize the stages I was at, as well as the milestones my loved ones and I had reached.
Our Last Leap Year, in 2016, also coincided with a U.S. Presidential Election (as they always do). I hoped, and was working hard, to see former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton be elected as our 45th President. Though Hillary won the popular vote, unfortunately a perfect storm of circumstances led to her not winning the electoral college. Thus he who shall not be named was inaugurated, which contributed to three and half of the most stressful years of my adult life, along with many of my peers (who share a more inclusive, just, equitable and honest vision for the USA/our country).
This Leap Year, I have not lost hope and again am working to help elect another Senator and woman, Elizabeth Warren to be our 46th President, though first I am trying to help her get the Democratic Nomination, as there are a lot more candidates left in the primary than there were at this time four years ago. Liz persists through difficult circumstances, as so many women and marginalized people do, has a plan for everything, admits to/learns from her mistakes, dreams big and fights hard! If Liz doesn’t secure the democratic nomination, I am determined to work to help elect whomever does, as our country and I cannot handle another four years of the current occupant of the White House and his corrupt administration.
Back in 2016 I was also hoping, praying, and working to for social and criminal justice reform, including Adnan Syed’s exoneration, whom I am still convinced is innocent and whose freedom is even longer overdue than it was four years ago. I am sad and angry that Adnan is still in prison for a crime that he did not commit in 1999. I also continue to hope and pray that someday we find out who really murdered Hae Min Lee, so she and her family can truly have justice.
In 2016, the weekend after Leap Day, I got to travel to Baltimore, MD for A Night For Justice, an event to benefit Adnan’s legal fund, as well as to connect with other like-minded people passionate about being the change they wish to see in our world. It was an incredible experience and I am still in touch with many of the awesome people I got to spend time with that weekend.
Our tenth Leap Year, in 2012, also coincided with another U.S. Presidential Election and the Summer Olympics which were held in London. That is where I lived, for my college semester abroad, during my sixth Leap Year in 1996. I had hoped during my eleventh Leap Year, that the Summer Olympics would be held here in Chicago, but we lost the bid to Rio de Janeiro. The 2020 Summer Olympics, during this/my twelvth Leap Year, are scheduled to be in Tokyo, Japan, however the recent outbreak of the Coronavirus, which continues to spread across Asia and worldwide, has caused panic and left the fate of that event in question.
In 2012, on my tenth Leap Year, we had lived in our new home for seven months, Sean was 8 and Abby was 2. Bob and I were both 36. In some ways it doesn’t seem like that long ago, time really does fly…
Also on my tenth, in 2012, I took a Leap of Faith, I changed the name of my blog, from Four of a Kind to Bereaved and Blessed, and moved it from Blogger to Self-Hosted WordPress, with this/my own URL.
On my ninth, in 2008, our daughter Molly was still alive and President Obama had not yet been elected.
My earliest Leap Year memory is from my third in 1984. I was in third grade and a classmate invited me over to play. Legend has it that on Leap Days women are allowed to ask men to marry them. My friend’s mom told him about the tradition which somehow translated into him inviting me over to celebrate.
In 1988 we were in seventh grade and gathered at a mutual friend’s home that evening to hang out and play board games in honor of Leap Day.
In 1992 we were in eleventh grade and worked together on a Chicago Metro History Fair project about our town’s golf course, a sport we both played and enjoyed. I recall seeing each other at some point on Leap Day that year and reflecting on our tradition.
We lost touch after high school, reconnecting twelve years ago on Facebook in 2008, which seemed fitting being that it was a Leap Year.
It’s interesting to wonder where I will be and how my life will have changed on the next Leap Day (in 2024), when my husband (who I married during my seventh Leap Year in 2000) and I will be 48 and our living children will be 20 and 14 years old (a sophomore in college and an 8th grader).
In 2016, I wondered the same things and pondered these questions:
Where will Sean be going to high school and what extracurricular activities will be most passionate about?
Which local school will Abby be attending and will she still love dance and/or be pursuing other things in her free time?
Will Bob be working for the same company (which he began working for during my seventh Leap Year)?
What will my Beachbody coaching business look like? I believe that I will still be doing this vocation that I love four years from now.
It’s fun to be able to report that Sean is in his sophomore year at Jones College Preparatory (JCP) High School, which was one of his top choices. Sean continues to be passionate about theater, especially musicals, though he has yet to be cast in any productions at JCP. He has been in more shows at our local Beverly Arts Center (BAC), including as one of the leads, Troy Bolton, in High School Musical Jr. last March (2019). Sean is in the JCP Concert Choir, has participated in stage crew for some of the shows there, and loves being part of the Harry Potter Club. He gets to go on a Band/Choir Spring Break Trip in April to Orlando, FL (including visits to Disney World and Universal Orlando), which I am chaperoning, and we are both super excited about!
It’s also awesome to know that Abby ended up testing into the same school where Sean attended 1st – 8th grades, Keller Regional Gifted Center, here in Chicago. Though it was difficult for us to move her from our local neighborhood school, where she attended Kindergarten and she/we were really happy, it was so wonderful for Sean and Abby to be together at the same school for two years! Abby still loves dance as much as ever, and is currently taking two Ballet Level II classes, along with Hip Hop, Tap and Modern weekly at our local Dance Gallery Chicago Studio. She auditioned for the Joffrey Ballet Children’s Cast in their annual production of The Nutcracker last Fall. Abby was cast as an alternate, however since no one dropped out, didn’t get to rehearse or be in the show. She is determined to try again this Fall, as she still really wants the opportunity to be in it and wants to keep trying until she makes it. We do think Abby has the talent and time will tell. This summer my mom, Abby and I are taking a trip to New York City for her to participate in Dance the World Broadway with Dance Gallery Chicago, which we are all really looking forward to. Finally, Abby also enjoys swimming, tennis and musical theater, which she manages to fit in around her dance classes at times. This time last year she was cast as Piglet in Winnie the Pooh the musical, her biggest role to date, and next month Abby will perform as part of the ensemble in the Wizard of Oz at the BAC.
Bob is still working at the same company he has been at since our seventh Leap Year (20 years ago) and recently has had the opportunity to travel to Poland for business trips. I got to tag along for one of those trips, in November, which was an incredible experience! I also managed to add a side trip to England, my first time back there since my sixth Leap Year (24 years ago), during my semester studying abroad in London, which felt surreal and was so much fun!
As for my Beachbody coaching business, I am still doing this vocation that I love (though on a smaller scale). Four years ago I was working much harder to build and mentor our team of coaches, making more money, as well earning and going on free trip/vacations to tropical locations. I did enjoy that, however it wasn’t a great fit for our life/family, our team didn’t grow/expand as much as I hoped we would, and in time I backed off some. I still lead small private accountability/support groups for my longtime/loyal clients and coaches, which also helps me stay on track with my health and fitness routines. Bob and I still get up early every morning to workout together, doing whatever the latest awesome Beachbody program is. We just completed the newest one, called Barre Blend with super trainer Elise Joan and are ready to start the next one, launching next month called 10 Rounds with Joel Freeman.
On my eleventh and last Leap Day a college church/Koinonia community friend died of cancer. Cancer still sucks, on leap day and every day. Since then our family and friends have grieved the deaths of more loved ones due to cancer, suicide and other illnesses.
Here’s some questions for our thirteenth Leap Year in 2024, which I hope my family, friends and I are lucky enough to be around for:
Where will Sean be going to college, what will he be majoring in and what will he be most passionate about?
Where will Abby have applied to attend high school (though we likely won’t know where she got in and she’ll be going yet) and will she still love dance and/or be pursuing other things in her free time?
Will Bob be working for the same company (which he began working for during my seventh Leap Year)?
Will I have gone back to work in the professional world part time, full time or in some capacity, beyond teaching group fitness classes or health and fitness coaching, as I’ve contemplated more recently?
Will I have queried any agents with one or more book proposals, as I’ve considered and put some effort into since at least my tenth Leap Year (2012), but as of now have yet to follow through on?
How is “Weasley,” my dream car (an orange 2017 VW Beetle), that Bob and I bought for me a week ago doing?
Where will we, the Traveling Bensons, have had adventures (as we’ve taken to so enjoy doing in recent years)?
I hope that my family and friends will get to experience and celebrate many more memorable Leap Years in our lives.
Wherever this finds you, I hope your 2020 Leap Year has been a fun and memorable one!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Its incredible… My friend also said that dude you gotta do something special for the day… and I said okay… I am gonna sleep the whole day… and I kinda did… seems Like I should adopt a better custom then that 😀