I am not one of those gushy women that love Valentine’s Day and looks forward to what she will be getting. There was a time when I hated Valentine’s Day. HATED IT. Not because some guy didn’t plan a great Valentine’s celebration or because of a break up. It was something else. I just didn’t like it.
So my husband tried so hard to make it a special day. 15 years ago he proposed on Valentine’s Day. It was one of those proposals that you remember forever because things didn’t go the way he had hoped. The proposal took place in my first “grownup” apartment. I was getting dressed for our night out. He came in from the town we had gone to college in and was waiting for me to get ready. He asked a question about the band playing at our favorite restaurant. I told him there wasn’t one that night. There went his romantic plans. So he thought he would but the ring in my jewelry. Only he kept getting in my way. Finally, he came in the bathroom where I was putting on my makeup got down on his knee…I was still getting frustrated that he was in my way. And right there in my sweat pants and sweat shirt with the mascara wand in my hand he said…Will you marry me? And in that one sentence, he changed my life and my opinion of Valentine’s Day. Because not everything in life is that perfect romantic moment…but it is that plain everyday moment that turns into something amazing.
Which brings me to 2 of my favorite poems for Valentines.
Both of these are by Lois Wyse. I found them in book my mom had when I was a little girl. I would read them over and over knowing that this would be my definition of love.
Non -Stop
by Lois Wyse
Someone asked me
To name the time
Our friendship stopped
And love began.
Oh, my darling,
That’s the secret.
Our friendship
Never stopped.
A Cozy Heart
by Lois Wyse
Once I thought love
Was tempestuous,
Tumultuous,
“Kiss me quick.”
I was wrong.
Love is usually a very comfortable way of life.
A cozy heart,
Kisses on the check,
“Wear your coat, and blow your nose.”
And what keeps a love so cozy?
The fact that every so often love is
tempestuous, tumultuous…
“Kiss me quick.”
And some how 17 years ago I meet the man who could make my heart jump in just the regular every day activities.
Happy Valentine’s Day. May your heart be open to all the possibilities.
Life with the Wild Things 