This is the last time this day will be here for 4 more years. It’s the day for all girls to grab their husbands. I stayed home from school today. I’ve got a bad cold. I ironed & cooked all day & thought of Dale.
I’ll let the profoundness of that statement sink in for a bit: “This is the last time this day will be here for 4 more years.”
Furthermore, did YOU know that Leap Day was “the day for all girls to grab their husbands”? I’d never heard that before, and it sure made me laugh! I went digging, and apparently, it’s a tradition that in a Leap Year, women can propose to men instead of waiting for it to be the other way around. Should the man refuse the girl’s proposal, he is expected to pay a fine (even if just a kiss). So all you ladies out there: If your man is taking too long to propose to you, just wait till a Leap Day, and YOU can propose to HIM instead, and it’ll all be perfectly acceptable.
Maybe Hazel is contemplating snagging Dale while she can . . . but she appears to be trapped in the house, sick and working. What a Cinderella tale!
The Life of Hazel Ilene 
I had read about girls being able to propose on Leap Year, but had forgotten. I wonder if it ever worked.
We always called it Sadie Hawkins Day, I think it came from L’ill Abner comic strip.