Happy Valentine's Day

SHE SAID.......

As we prepare to celebrate Valentine’s Day we found out that we lost a dear friend Ron Gonzalez to a tragic plane crash. God rest his soul. My first thought was that we should cancel our plans. We are planning to head out to Philly tonight to stay in out favorite hotel the Embassy Suites (we love the beds). On Saturday we have reservations at an exclusive restaurant (that was so booked we have 4 pm reservations, I mean who eats dinner at 4 pm).

Sigh. Looking back to high school I was not one of the girls who walked around with balloons and flowers. In college, I celebrated with my then boy friend by purchasing him a pair of Air Jordan’s with my monthly allowance my parents sent me. Each year it was one bad g ift after another and my junior year was the worst. He over heard me telling my mother how depressed I was and decided he would never celebrate the day anymore. He proceeded to wall into my dorm room and threw a $20 gift I had picked out from the local Aim’s department store and stormed away leaving me feeling foolish and like a selfish _______ (fill in with a word that rhymes with witch). After that my girls and I would protest this day of “love” by wearing all black. We were mourning the poor sucker who thought they really needed a day to celebrate their love.

I don’t know if it was sheer luck or fate that I married a man who also had no interest in celebrating Valentine’s Day. We both despised the day so much we came up with our own day (one week after February 14th) and called it Appreciation Day!! Then last year as I sat at my desk (dressed in black, like the Omen) preparing to get on the train and watching the women with all the flowers and candy and God awful red, I received a surprise. Yes, my husband who knows I hate Valentine’s Day sends me roses and chocolate covered strawberries. OH THE HORROR!!! I was horrified. I would now be one of those hateful women on the train struggling to take home gifts from their significant others. I would be one of THEM. I know how this sounds…..

Fast forward to today. After a long decision last year we decided there was no reason NOT to celebrate Valentine’s Day/Appreciation Day because we are married after all. So, I booked a room in one of our favorite cities and made dinner reservations. Out of the blue, my husband calls with the news about Ron and my first thought was to cancel.

Life is so short. Life is so fragile. So often we don’t express how we feel to the one is we love. So why not celebrate Valentine’s Day when you are loving the one you are with. I have this One Life and my husband is my One (true) Love. I am about to pack a sexy teddy and one outfit (I don’t plan on being outside of the hotel room much) and head to Philly in a few hours.

Let me leave you with this quote that I saw in am email forward:

"Sing like nobody's listening, Live like it's Heaven on Earth, Work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, And dance like no one's watching."

Happy Valentine’s Day. One Love. One Life.