Celebrate the Love

Not just on Valentine’s Day, but every day

Do you love or loathe February 14th? This was the question Ellie Jacobson asked in her Freewriting Friday prompt.

If it’s possible to fall somewhere in the middle, that’s me. I definitely don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. I like the idea of it, not the commercialism, expectations, or pressure some might feel to show their love in some “perfect” way.

And why does it have to be one day?

I sent my oldest son and his wife a Valentine’s Day card when they were first out on their own. I signed the card, ‘Celebrate the love every day!’ And that’s how I honestly feel. It isn’t some grand gesture that takes place one time a year. It’s the little things or should be, anyway.

I can remember making bags or boxes in grade school and giving and receiving the cute little character Valentine cards, but I don’t remember if it meant much to me at the time.

I think it’s meant more to me as a parent and grandparent to see the joy on my sons’ faces and my granddaughter’s face when they give and receive a gift.

Whenever my granddaughter visits, we often end up coloring or doing some kind of craft. She writes love notes to all of us, even our animals. I often find ‘I love you, Nana’ on a postcard or piece of paper tucked inside whatever book I have sitting on the table. If we’re doing sidewalk chalk, she’ll write ‘I ❤ you, Nana.’ Sometimes, she’ll pick daisies or dandelions for me.

In quiet moments, which are few and far between because she’s a busy little girl, she’ll say, “Hey, Nana,” and when I look at her, she’ll hold up her hands in the shape of a heart, and I, of course, do the same. It’s the little surprises that mean a lot. The kind, loving, thoughtful gestures that don’t need any words or material things.

Thanks to Ellie Jacobson at Flint and Steel for this prompt.