Happy Valentine's Day
Celebrating love of all kinds
Holidays can be wonderful, holidays can be hard. I think Valentine’s Day is one that can definitely fit in both categories no matter where we are in life.
When I was in elementary school, I loved making cards and giving candy to my friends, putting little treats in the shoebox on their desk. But I always knew that not everyone’s boxes were as full as their neighbors. And so the wonder and the hard started early.
When I was in high school, my school parking lot was divided in sections - seniors parked at the top of the lot, juniors toward the gate and sophomores (who were lucky enough to drive) parked in a lower lot closer to the football field. My junior year, I decided to celebrate by decorating our portion of the lot. I had my mom and aunt meet me just after lunch, bringing bushels of red balloons - and I tied one on every car, all the antennas in the junior parking lot. I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it, and when the final bell rang, the junior lot was full of red balloons. Little tokens of love, friendship and joy waving in the wind. It still is one of my favorite memories of a way to celebrate and show up for others on Valentine’s Day.
In the first months after my divorce, I assumed that Thanksgiving and Christmas were likely going to be difficult. I was prepared and took steps to feel good - therapy, spent time with friends and family, booked a big trip for my birthday and Thanksgiving. And they came and went and I felt okay. I felt like I passed a big hurdle. I was FINE. So when February 14 came, and I was traveling home from a work trip in D.C., I did not anticipate the mack truck of emotions that hit me. Valentine’s Day was never a big deal to me if I celebrated it or not, so I didn’t prepare. And it was a doozy. Thankfully I wasn’t alone and went to a friend’s that night, deciding that sleeping on her couch was preferable to being alone at home. But that was a big reminder that while preparing for anything can make it easier, sometimes things will hit us when we least expect it.
Since then I have sent and received flowers, mailed cards and been given them, gone to dinner and stayed in. Most of the flowers may have been from my best girlfriends and my dad, most of the cards may have been sent to nieces and nephews, and the meals may have been with friends more often than dates. But I have always been lucky to feel lots of love on this day - even when it isn’t the kind that is traditionally celebrated with Cupid’s arrow.
I hope wherever you are and whomever you choose to share your day with, you feel all the love in the world, from yourself and those around you. And even if today is hard, I hope you have some wonder too.
All my love.
xx
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Love you friend!😘💌❤️