Forever Valentines

Some celebrated holidays can be a trigger for widows or widowers. For me, Valentine’s Day falls into that category. While it no longer brings a painful grief, it does make me focus on my state of living alone. I miss my hubby. He loved to do special things for me on this day.

Sometimes I would awaken with an envelope on my pillow. Sometimes I’d find a card waiting on the table in the kitchen. There was always a heart box of chocolates for me and smaller ones for the girls. He was a romantic guy.

He never stopped saying “I love you.” His arms would hold me close taking away any pain the world had inflicted. I knew as long as we were together, we could stand against any storms. I believe this was true because we also had woven God into our lives. We were three against the darkness.

Eventually his bodily tent began to break down and he wasn’t able to shop for holidays. My favorite valentine, which all my loved ones know about, was handwritten on a piece of plain notebook paper and placed with a magnet on the refrigerator door for me to find. I’ve kept that valentine in a frame on my bedroom wall ever since he took his journey to heaven.

On this Valentine’s Day, I smile at the remembrances of those loving moments we shared through the years.