February 14th, 2018

Yes, Happy Valentine's Day to You!  The day to remind you that you are loved.  And you are. Everyone is loved or has been loved by somebody at some point in their life. And that is worth celebrating.  

​Tim and I are goopy.  We celebrate life.  All of it.  Real Holidays (the kind the post office and bank are closed for) and non-real holdays (the ones the post office and bank do not close for.)  We don't necessarily make a huge monster sized deal of it, but there is a nod to the day in some way because, well, why not!  Life is short. And it should be lived fully. Every single solitary moment of it is a gift and it's special and worth celebrating in some way.  I honestly believe that most people do not appreciate how important every single day is, until you start heading on the down side of that mountain.

​There was a time in my life, probably high school, those were some difficult years, when I had a seriously bad attitude about Valentine's Day.  Bah Humbug or the equivalent was my feeling on the subject.  I sneered at the heart laden displays in the stores, I snorted with derision at the romance movies that always came out around that time and gagged a little bit accidentally on purpose at the love songs on the radio.  "Valentine's day is stupid" I would have said if asked.  Sounds like sour grapes to me. And it was.

​High school, for the A-list kids is great.  It's probably mostly okay for the B-list kids but as you slide further and further down that popularity poll, which sadly most of high school actually is, the experience gets yuckier and yuckier.  I was essentially invisible. No boyfriends on my horizon. It's like I didn't exist to the male of the species.  I was lucky enough to kind of accidentally have found a couple of wonderful friends.  Two amazing, smart, beautiful and seriously funny women that are still friends of mine today.  Who were so incredibly awesome that they opted to NOT go to Senior Prom because I wasn't asked by anyone and instead spent it with me. THAT my friends is love.  But I lacked the maturity, the perspective and the emotional sophistication back  then to realize what I do now. Valentine's Day is not just about having someone who I love.  It's also about knowing that someone loves me.

​And I had loads of people who loved me. My parents, my sister, my friends, grandparents, other relatives and even the four-legged family members who rejoiced like I was a returning conquering hero every time I walked in the room even if I was only gone to wash my hands.

​Who do you love?  Your kids? Your friends? Your parents?  Your pet?  Someone you've lost but you had for awhile? Do you at least love yourself?  That counts and it's important.

​Do you love your home? Your job? Your hobby? Is there a particular food, or flower or superhero that has captured your heart?

​"Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime", Thank you Dean Martin.  It just is the truth whether you admit it or not.  It's there and it's beautiful.

​And if you are lucky enough to have someone in your life, a partner, a companion, a lifemate, a spouse, who truly really sincerely completely adores you, warts and all, well that is just the most wonderfully amazing thing!  Think about it.  There are Billions of people in the world. That's Billions with a B and a whole lot of zeros.  Out of all of those Billions of people, the two of you found each other.  And then you decided to spend what life you are given, together. To face whatever fate and life and the universe throws at you, side by side.  That's amazing. It's incredible. It's fantastic!  And it's worth celebrating.

​It's Valentine's Day. Celebrate!

With love,
​Sam