"oh, what a time
was there ever such a time
when suddenly it's done
the moment passes
where, where does the time go
must we let it end?"
- barry manilow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Lqig7SkRo
it's leap year day, one that comes only once every four years. from where i grew up, it was believed that single women had an extra day in the year to find a husband and it was said that men would hide during the leap year else risk being trapped into marriage when they're not ready yet. or when they're not into it at all. or worse get married to someone they don't intend to marry at all. and it was only during leap year when it was okay for women to be the one to propose to their beaus. all those caricatures of women running after men holding a large net. growing up in the old country, i always thought it was an insult to women but then i discovered that most of my male friends really wanted to be proposed to rather than them proposing.
in college, my friend emmanuel "proposed" to me that when we turn 40 and we're both not married yet, that we should then marry each other. we had been friends since grade school and although we were not sweethearts, we were very close, having the same likes and dislikes, believing in the same principles and abandoning them when convenient. we've lost touch over the years and the last time i saw him was during a flight to manila when i was still working in the middle east. he was by then married with two children and i already on my second.
and so, february is over and done with. three hundred days more before Christmas, folks. better get ready, that holiday just sneaks on us.
