Our 15th Valentine's Day Together

This was our 15th Valentine's Day together, Leo and I. We spent most of it just "lounging around the house." No busy restaurants or crowded bars for us. (those days are long gone, thank goodness) Just the two of us and heart shaped pancakes complete with candlelight and sweet hearts scattered about the table.

Our gifts to eachother were sentimental as they usually are. The very first thing I ever bought Leo was a tan Nike baseball cap from a weekend trip I spent in Palm Springs with friends. So, I thought it would be nice to buy him another one, this time in black. And one of the first things he bought me was framed art by Kim Anderson - ya know the ones with the little girl and boy dressed up in "grown up" clothes? - in this particular one the little boy was on bended knee handing the little girl a single red rose. Well, I was lucky enough to find a Valentine's Card with the very same image - perfect! (I love it when I find things like this unexpectedly)

When I woke up in the morning, he left a card on my bathroom sink from him and the boys. (a.k.a Sunny and Quincy), which I thought was very cute since this was our first valentine's day since adopting them last April. Later, he gave me a card from just him. He also gave me a beautiful heart shaped necklace and matching bracelet. (One of the first pieces of jewelry he bought me was heart shaped and over the years, he's continued the tradition.)

After breakfast, I ran upstairs to jump in the shower because we wanted to make it to the 10:45am showing of Valentine's Day (the movie.) He knows that I always turn on my stereo and listen to a CD while getting ready - I did just that and this beautiful song called "As Beautiful As You" came on from All for One. I literally had tears in my eyes - he had made a cd with various love songs, including our song and a few others that had meaning to only us. Of course I ran down stairs to thank him before heading into the shower.

Then we went to see the movie - it was filled with lots of laughs, a few teary moments but even more important, it had a great message. The message was simple - When you love someone, truly love someone, you love the WHOLE person, faults and all. Leo and I don't claim to be the perfect couple nor are we experts in the area. If anything, we are STILL learning after 15 years of being together, 10 of them as husband and wife. The point is, I suppose is to do it together; Learning, growing, arguing, crying, laughing, loving and living together.

The other theme in the movie was the importance of friendship and I couldn't agree more. Life and relationships are never easy but sometimes it's our friends who help us get through the rough spots. So on Valentine's Day, or any other day it's important to recognize not only our loved ones but also our closest friends who love, support and guide us through life and love.