I remember only one Valentine’s Day; the day I nearly brained my husband with a flower box. Darling boy that he was, he wanted something unusual for that particular day. He found it – a six-foot tall red rose that cost over $60 for the single bloom. Sweet – yes; smart – nope. Especially since we were struggling to pay the mortgage at the time!
Although I can be a true romantic, it has never depended on a special day to show it. I prefer those days we give and receive for absolutely no reason in the world except we love each other.
There isn’t one other Valentine’s Day plugged into my overloaded memory banks because it has become something people feel they must do instead of something they truly want to do. Romance has been replaced by greed. A friend was furious because his wife didn’t get him the medical alert bracelet he wanted. Maybe she was trying to tell him something?
I remember months and months, long after I forgot I mentioned wanting a slender anklet, Bru showed up with a beautiful box in his hands and grin so wide I thought his face would split. Inside was the perfect anklet. It wasn’t Valentine’s, an anniversary, birthday or any other day. It was an “I love you and think about you and listen to you” day. That anklet comes off only in case of x-rays and MRI’s.
Another beautiful day, my sweetheart arrived with a “hey, it’s a great time of year” day gift. He delivered self-contained planters full of new strawberry plants. I was ecstatic. The three, yes, only three, strawberries that survived my tender care were the sweetest we ever ate. I reused the planters for flowers that eventually lost their lives due to a most incompetent gardener. The want to garden was there, just not the how to.
We were a most fortunate couple in that every day together or knowing we would soon be together was Valentine’s, Christmas, and the Fourth of July combined. Don’t think I was only on the receiving end. Definitely not. What fun is that?
He received a bouquet of flowers at work. That was no easy feat as he worked in a super classified area in a safe with ten inch thick walls. Wouldn’t you have loved to be that delivery fellow?
I eavesdropped even when it was the two of us talking to discover what he wanted most. Perhaps his best gift was my agreeing to buy our boat dealership after he retired. How he enjoyed testing boats, talking to customers and making a sale!
Should anyone ask a piece of advice for success in marriage, I will always be make every day of your lives sweet enough to deserve a gift whether you get one or not. You’ll discover the days are the gifts and nothing made can ever compare.
HAPPY I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S ALMOST SPRING DAY!