Nearly 10  months ago, I introduced you to Co-Pilot. On Monday, it will be time to say good-bye, at least to this version of Co-Pilot. 

Good-byes are better when they’re quick, don’t you agree?

Being reader editor has been one of the best jobs I’ve ever had, and I’ve held a bunch of them in nearly 30 years at The Pilot. I have so enjoyed your e-mails, calls and letters – and your joy at having something you wrote or photographed published.

What I really enjoyed, though, was the ability to say “yes” when you wanted to talk about something your kid did, or an event you attended.

I heard from a number of folks who enjoyed the “good news,” the little taste of dessert after a news section filled with war and woe. Some people liked the personal touch the page added to The Pilot. Many relished the haiku contests. Others were determined to have every member of their family wear the birthday hat!

(Yeah, and a few said, “What the heck is this? We want news.” You’ll get your wish starting Wednesday.)

But the deluge of reader submissions I had hoped for never materialized, and submissions now have slowed to a trickle. It was becoming increasingly difficult to produce the page three days a week.

Does this mean Co-Pilot is going away forever?

Not at all. We must make room for you in our pages. So look for a morphed Co-Pilot, probably in our community news sections as well as online.

I’ll still be here. I’m director of community news now, so keep my phone number handy.

See ya around.

Let's see: reset the watches, clocks, microwave, coffeepot... and now everytime I connect my PDA to the network, it insists that the current time is.... 3.16 p.m. I've rescheduled meetings and appointments -- several times.

How does this twice-a-year time switch waste your time? And are you in favor of one time all the time?

When I was preparing Dale Harrell's piece on meeting Helen Keller for last Monday's Co-Pilot, I found out that March 3 was the 121st anniversary of the day her teacher, Annie Sullivan, first came to the Keller home.

Now comes this from "Morning Edition" this morning on NPR: the discovery of a previously unknown photo of Helen and Annie. It's just beautiful. Enjoy.

Click here.

Like Mike Hotchkiss, whose encounter with Sky King (Kirby Grant)  is in today's Co-Pilot, I'm a Boomer, too. His piece appealed to me because I was also a fan of "Sky King."

OK, not exactly Sky King, but I wanted to be his niece, Penny. Imagine: a teenage girl flying an airplane! I loved it when he would leave her at the controls and remind her to keep her chin up.

Like most old TV shows, this one is available on DVD.

And I learned something: Sky's real name was Schuyler.

Call them leapers, leaplings or 29ers, folks born on Feb. 29 have a special reason to celebrate today. We heard from a couple of dozen readers who are having their quadrennial birthdays today. Because we didn’t have space for them all in the Feb. 29 Co-Pilot, we are presenting more of them here. See the next group of posts for their stories. Hit “comment” on this entry to post your own leap-day story.

Connie Jacobson, Norfolk: Can a Norfolk native who now lives in Newton, Mass., celebrate a birthday? Steve Jacobson was born in Norfolk Feb. 29, 1960,  and will be 12 today. Steve was valedictorian of his Norfolk Academy class in 1978.

Joy Speelman, Chesapeake: Thomas William Speelman III, better known as Tommy, was born Feb. 29, 2000, so today is his second official birthday. His older brothers tease him that he is really only 2 years old; however, he will appreciate his youth later in life. Today, he will bring treats to his classmates Great Bridge Primary, go to Laser Quest with 14 of his friends, his mom and dad and his brothers.

I was born Feb. 29, 1936, and will be 18 this year – younger than my granddaughter Katherine, who was 18 last November. I never met another leap day baby until I went back to college at age 56 (14) and another student in my class was 20 (5). I feel free to celebrate any day I choose when it’s not a leap year, but always in February, not March.

I am 2 in leap years today, 8 in real years. I celebrate my birthday by having a special cake with my family.  Sometimes we celebrate on the Feb. 28 or March 1.  This year, lots of relatives are coming to visit, like my cousin Kate from New Jersey.