Longtime Chilliwack resident Isobel Boylan has a soft spot in her heart for when a leap year rolls around.
The 2024 leap year would have marked her 68th wedding anniversary.
This week Isobel is remembering with fondness the day she took a leap of faith and proposed to Fred Charles Boylan.
It was at the very outset of their leap year love story, which began in Aberdeen, Scotland, where they both originally hailed from.
Her beloved husband, Fred, passed away in Chilliwack over two years ago, but Isobel, 88, still vividly remembers the day they met.
It was at the Leap Year Dance on leap day, Feb. 29, 1956 at the Palais Ballroom in Aberdeen.
Isobel had been working as a window dresser in a clothing shop. One day she told her co-workers she was going to attend the big dance with her friend, Ruby.
“They teased us saying: ‘You two better get a man tonight or you will have another four years until the next leap year.’”
The two friends made a pact that the one who sees them home after the dance would be the one they ask to marry.
The leap year tradition of ladies’ choice dates back to the fifth century Ireland, when it was known as Bachelors’ Day. It spread across much of Europe, decreed as the one day, every four years, that a woman could propose to the man.
When Isobel first set eyes on Fred, he was sitting on the sidelines at the dance.
“After a few dances I said to my friend, ‘See that guy over there? He hasn’t danced once, he’s just chatting with his pals. When it’s ladies’ choice, I’m going to ask him to dance.‘”
And so she did. They danced all night. When he asked to see her home, she said yes.
They walked for a spell and Fred told Isobel he was on leave from the British Royal Air Force.
As they went to say goodnight, Isobel asked, “Will you marry me?”
He was quite shocked, until she explained it was a leap-year pact that she made with Ruby.
READ MORE: Leap-year weddings on the rise
“He asked me if we could go dancing again so we met at the Beach Ballroom and had a wonderful evening,” she recalled.
Fred walked Isobel home again.
“The next night we went to see a movie then went to a cafe. Fred ordered two teas; I will never forget he didn’t get cake or scones. I have a hard time drinking tea without eating,” she confessed.
Then the leave was over and he reported back to the army base, RAF Wittering in Stamford, England, in the county of Lincolnshire.
They promised to write to each other.
At one point Fred booked another week’s leave just as Isobel was taking a week’s vacation of her own from work.
Then his leave got cancelled so she decided to go to Stamford to meet him there.
”He booked me a hotel and met me at the railway station.”
They went to the George Hotel, the nicest place in town.
“I told him ‘I can’t stay here it’s too expensive,’ and promptly got a room at a local pub.”
Things were progressing nicely.
“We really liked each other and as he was scheduled in a couple of months to go to Australia for three years taking part in atomic bomb testing, we decided to get married.”
So they did, on July 7, only four months and one week after their first meeting.
It was a modest wedding with just family in attendance, she had her wedding dress made.
”We all went to the Atheneum Hotel for a meal and a two-tier cake provided by my mother,” Isobel remembered.
She and Fred raised three children, and eventually moved to Chilliwack where they settled for the past 33 years.
They shared eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. For their 30th wedding, they renewed their vows and held an even fancier party than the original wedding celebration.
This year would have marked their 68th anniversary, prompting Isobel to ask the age-old question:
“Who says there is no such thing as love at first sight?”
