Day of LOVE

I want to tell you ALL to have a Happy Valentine’s Day! I feel very fortunate that I grew up in a house where Valentine’s Day was not just about having a partner or being IN love. In our house it was about celebrating all love… friends, family, pets… everyone! I don’t have any brothers. My dad was the only boy in our house! On Valentine’s day we would wake up and my dad would have bought all of his girls a Valentine’s treat and we usually got a card from both of our parents. My mom always decorated (still does) and it was just such a happy day! It’s also extra special in our house because on that day, in 1975, my parents (who were still in University & College) went out to dinner and my dad PROPOSED to my mom! They were only 19 and 21 years old, but they had already been together for for SIX years (yes, my parents are high school sweethearts and are still together!)

Even for all of the MANY years I was single on Valentine’s Day, I was never bitter. I never hated it or thought of it as a Hallmark holiday. I credit my upbringing for that!

Then, along came the love of my life.  Now Valentine’s Day is about all love… including celebrating being IN love.  While I believe in being grateful for love every day, it’s nice to have 1 day set aside especially for it (I think)!

Here we are… 7 years ago on our first Valentine’s date. We had been dating for just shy of 3 months. My roommate knew about him but I hadn’t even told my family about him at that point. I had a feeling he was ‘the’ one… but I wanted to make sure he was worthy of meeting my wonderful family!

Here we are a few months ago…

To my wonderful boyfriend…

(his favourite Valentine’s card ever)

Happy Valentine’s Day to all! I wish you all a day full of LOVE!