Now, I believe we should celebrate love every single day, but sometimes routine gets in the way. We wake up and get the kids fed, dressed, hair combed, lunches packed, and whisk them away to school, all the while getting ourselves up, pressed, dressed, make up and contacts, then boom out the door and off to work. It's a routine. We all have them. It's not a bad thing.
Valentine's Day, however, gives us a chance to take a moment and reflect on all the many kinds of love we have in our lives.
My sweet husband gave me roses, a card, and my favorite chocolates. I gave him some candy and a card, because I know he doesn't want the fuss. We gave the kids small trinkets of our love for them through dolls and sweets. The kids gave their friends little cards with lollipops attached to show they care.
We all jump on Facebook and share what our spouses did for us, or show pictures of the food we got when we went to our favorite bistro, or show old wedding photos, and proclaim our undying love for those who mean the most to us.
There are as many forms of love as there are Shakespeare sonnets.
This year, my husband and I put aside any romantic plans to care for our very sick child. She has the flu and a double ear infection. She's 7 and has special needs. It was mentally and emotionally exhausting. We were in constant states of worry, concern, love, and care for our dear little one. Valentine's Day was a demonstration of our love for our dear little one as we cared for her.
I've been reflecting a lot on love lately. There are so many different stages and types of love and I think a lot of people, maybe me included (?), are easily confused by their own feelings of love.
I adore and love my husband. He is my rock when I'm falling apart and my closest and dearest friend. I can tell him anything, and even though we may fight from time to time, I know that he wants the best for us and our family.
I love my friends, especially my closest and most trusted friends. When I Google quotes about friendship, one that comes up often is:
Isn't that the truth? I don't always have time to check in with my closest friends, but I know they will be there for me when I need them. I love them dearly. Some friends, old friends from school days, reconnected through social media, have been so far removed that we wonder how our friendships drifted so far. Then, after just one conversation, it all comes flooding back. The friendship is still there, you see the quirks and attitudes that always made you smile, you remember instantly why you got along so well back then and BOOM your friendship flourishes once again. I love those friends, too!
Some loves can be confusing. New love, when you want to shout from the mountains that you've found someone special, but you know it's TOO soon to do it, so you lie in wait for the perfect moment to reveal your emotions.... You might type out exactly what you're feeling in a deep, romantic text only to DELETE rather than SEND because you fear the reply will be awkward or unwanted.
Quick story: My husband and I met online. I couldn't wait to jump on the computer and see if he was free for a chat on instant messenger. I would wait with my heart beating wildly for him to appear online so we could chat. When I saw his name pop up as available, I would fight myself to wait a bit before I sent him a message, out of fear that if I seemed too eager, it would scare him off. We all play that game, don't we?
After months of communication, we decided to meet in person. It was magical. On the second date... SECOND DATE... I blurted out something like, "I think I might be falling for you...." and immediately regretted it. I wanted to go back in time and smack myself to stop me from saying it. I apologized a thousand times. I felt foolish. I had opened my mouth, spoken my true feelings, and was terrified of the reply that would be coming. Fortunately, after I had worked myself up pretty bad, he said, "It's ok. I'm falling for you, too." He fixed the situation rather than running for the hills.
New love can be confusing.
Old love is sacred and treasured.
They say you never forget your first love. I think that's true. I think that the love you had for that first one will always be with you. It's special. It's sacred. It's tucked down deep into your heart in a special place all it's own. Even if it ended badly, you tend to forget the bad bits and hold on to the wonder and amazement of that first time you realized what it was to truly be in love.
But the best love of all is the love you feel in this very moment. The romance from your spouse or significant other..... the family love for your children, parents, and siblings.... the love you have for your best friend.,... the love for a rekindled friendship from the past.... the love that you feel in your heart at this very moment.
All you need is love.
I leave you now with my favorite love song. It's a compilation of love songs meshed together for the movie Moulin Rouge. It's the Elephant Love Medley. For the record, one of the best love stories ever told... if you haven't seen it... please do.
How wonderful life is now you're in the world.
Laters baby!
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