I have literally been looking forward to Valentine's Day for almost an entire month now, ever since Christmas break ended and I came back to school. Spring break was far away, so I needed something sooner to look forward to. I started getting Josue's present the very first weekend of being back at SLU, wrote my Valentine cards during the super bowl, and have had this post written and reworked, ready to go for more than a week now:
More and more I am realizing that I really love Valentines day. Some people are not fans and others think its overrated. But I find myself to be just the opposite. I embrace every aspect of the holiday. I love all of the reds and pinks laced with the occasional gold, white, and purple. Just the same, I love the candy, jewelry, stuffed animals, cards, flowers, and sudden availability of normal items produced in heart shapes.
In elementary school holidays that were celebrated with class parties were always exciting, but I especially liked celebrating Valentines Day. I loved going to Target where my mom would let us pick out whatever box of valentines we wanted to pass out and a bag of candy to tape to each card. In class the week leading up to the party included using construction paper, scissors, glue, and markers to create and perfect the envelope/bag that we hung from the side of our desk eagerly awaiting to be filled with valentines from our classmates. Then the party would consist of passing out and receiving valentines cards with classmates, dumping them out on our desks to read each one, and eating sweet treats.
Middle school and high school were always disappointing due to the lack of valentines parties that we had in elementary school. Even when we celebrated during yearbook, it was usually just with food and there was an absence of actual valentines. Luckily all through out my life my mom has always had a simple valentines day present for each of us, and my dad often got us cards as well. For a while the gifts from my mom were cute beanie babies, but as we grew out of those they became a shirt or scarf or necklace and maybe some candy. It was always exciting to open those after waking up in the morning. The gifts were always something simple, but were cherished none the less. They were just to show and celebrate her love for us, gifts from the heart.
Besides cards from classmates and presents from my parents, as well as exchanging cards/gifts with my sunshine ladies during high school, I have also been lucky to receive other fun and thoughtful valentines day presents. A few years ago my best friend gave me a purple folder. Within it there was a collage of my biggest celebrity crushes, a mixed CD of love songs, and a really great card collaged of magazines and pictures. Each item carefully crafted and put together to be full of the perfect combinations that she knew I would love (meaning of course that the collage included a picture of Rob Lowe, a photo of John Stamos, one of Channing Tatum, and of course Gerard Butler among many attractive others). I also have gotten beautiful flowers as well as a teddy bear, perfume, a picture frame filled with us, and CDs from my sweet Josue on Valentines Day. All of these many things were acts of love and undoubtedly gifts from the heart (the best kinds of presents).
I think this is why I love Valentines Day so much. Not because of the fun items I have received and given, but because of the very fact that it is a holiday focused on celebrating the love of every day life.
I love love. Even just the word itself, the way it sounds, and the way it looks. I am drawn to clothing and artwork that literally incorporate love, the word itself comprised of four simple letters. Alone the l, o, v, and e are just letters of the alphabet, foundations of our language. But when they are strung together, they embody a meaning of something that is so special and sought after.
I love the warm, fuzzy butterflies that Josue gives me. I love to watch the interactions between other couples in love: my mom & Dan, my grandparents, my aunts & uncles, my roommate Alex & her boyfriend Blake, and my friends Hilary & Colby. I love witnessing older couples in restaurants that still go on dates and look at each other as if their eyes were just meeting as they did for the first time many years before. Or being around older couples that disagree and argue, but at the end of the day put their differences aside and are thankful for each other. I love seeing photos of weddings, where two in love are bonded together. Even if I know no one in the wedding party and none of the guests, I'm still drawn to looking at an entire album of strangers where love is so obviously present. I love chick flicks with predictable love stories and my iTunes library is full of songs with love in their lyrics.
But love is more than just romance. And Valentine's Day is for everyone, not just people in romantic relationships. In my theology class my professor was just explaining that the source of all love stems from the beginning, the love between God and his son Jesus. He then continued to tell us that from that comes the love God has for each of us, and all the love we hold for each other. Love is there constantly, to be found every where in each life. I love the love between parents and their children, the love between siblings, between the best of friends, between pets and their owners, and among teammates.
But love is more than just a bond. Love is an action. As Bob Goff wrote, "Simply put: love does." Or as John Mayer sings, "love ain't a thing, love is a verb." I love seeing (and doing) acts of selfless love- putting others before ourselves. Simple things like smiling at strangers and holding doors open, like comforting and congratulating, like giving to others and caring for each other. These produce goosebumps and butterflies and warm shivers all the same as the excitement of a new romance or the constance and familiarity of a love that has always been.
All of my anticipation, expectations, and excitement for the arrival of Valentine's Day has not led to any kind of disappointment or let down in the least. Valentine's Day 2013 (and the events associated with it that haven't fallen directly on February 14th itself) has been so great, awe-filled, and heart melting! I am thankful for all of the love in my life and the overflowing love that we are all surrounded with on a daily basis. It should be embraced and celebrated regardless of the date being February 14 or July 27 or November 3!
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