The Best Kind of Valentine's

For those of you sitting around right now, feeling down or sad, feeling left out and lonely, because you think when all those flowers arrived at work today for someone else, and because you didn’t get any, that no one loves you – no one cares about you? Well let me tell you why I know someone does.

If someone spoke to you today on their way into the grocery store, the post office or the hardware store, they care about you. If someone held the door for you while you stepped up the pace to walk into the doctor’s office this morning – someone cares. If a friend called you out of the blue today to see how you’re doing, someone cares. And whether you think so or not, even if the only interaction you have today is at a graveside, as you grieve someone who has been lost, or even someone who has had heaven as a new residence for quite some time, the memories alone, are proof someone loved and cared about you.

If your mail gets put in the right box every day, yes, someone is doing their job, but they care enough about you to do it right. If the woman standing next to you in line in the drizzling rain, offers to share her umbrella with you as you stood there with none – someone cares. If you’re at the dentist office for your regular check-up and the lady up front is kind enough to check on your husband as he sits and waits anxiously for you to come back out – someone cares. And if the stranger who rolls you out of the hospital in the mandatory wheelchair, bothers to make small talk all the way out of the building – someone cares about you.

If the cashier chases you down in the parking lot because you left one of your bags on her counter -someone cares. If the pharmacy tech peels the 50% off sticker on your tissue box while totaling your order (because you forgot to do it) – someone cares about you. If you get a random card in the mail, no matter the day or reason, holiday or not – somebody cares. And if the car in front of you pays your order before you even pull-up in line to pay – someone cares about you.

The thing is folks, candy, cards, flowers, nice dinners, and stuffed animals are all very nice gestures. But so is some fried spam that my husband cooked for me while I was at the hairdresser until almost 7pm, and starving when I finally got home and walked in the door, so that I didn’t have to do anything but sit down and eat. Or when he’s going out of town before garbage day, he empties all the trash in the house anyway, and rolls it to the curb so I don’t have to – that’s also love. And when he’s eating, no matter what it is, he always offers me some before he even takes a bite.

I don’t know about you, but most times, I would rather have all the little pieces of love and caring year-round’, than that once a year stuff anyway!