Celebrating Love!

Happy Valentine’s Day to all you wonderful Villagers! We’re so happy to share the holiday with you! Today (and tomorrow), we'll celebrate romance, friendship, and family (relatives, writer family, online family, and even our 4-legged family members!). In other words, we’re celebrating LOVE in all its forms. We’re so thankful for the love, friendship and support we have here at Seekerville. Y’all are the very best gift!

For our celebration, I asked our bloggers and others to share favorite memories of Valentine’s Day. I hope you enjoy these tributes to love!

From Erica Vetsch:

One of my favorite memories of Valentine’s Day happened several years ago. My husband brought me flowers. This is a rare occurrence ‘round here, as my husband is all about growing flowers not buying ‘dead ones.’ :)

He brought me the prettiest little bouquet of Peruvian Lilies in paper wrapping. Pink with faint brown flecks down their throats. They probably cost $5.00 at the grocery store, but it didn’t matter that it wasn’t two dozen red roses with greenery and baby’s breath.  He’d brought me flowers in the middle of the Minnesota winter.

He’s brought me flowers before and since, but the reason this time stands out is that I was feeling particularly down (winter is a tough time for me as I fight seasonal depression) and those flowers chirked me up no end. 

Not only that, they lasted for a full five weeks! I’ve never seen the like. I remember it well, because my birthday comes five weeks after Valentine’s Day, and I still had those flowers cheering me right up.

From Ruthy Logan Herne:

Romantic Valentine's Days are those things stories are made of... in other words, they haven't exactly been the reality around the farm, LOL! So instead of sitting around, I would always do something special for the kids for Valentine's Day.

I’d make cookies and put them in a decorated box, all trimmed out, just like they show on the Nestle Morsels commercial! And I'd make little cards for them, and we'd have pretend mailboxes... and we'd put cards for each other (and Daddy, of course!) in the pretend mailboxes. We didn't worry about the sweetheart aspects because I'm pretty pragmatic about the whole thing... but I did like making it a special family thing, probably because it's February and we were trapped in the house other than school or work. Doing a special Valentine's Day supper and our "post office" was a bright ray in a very long "short" month! 

photo by Missy Tippens

From Faye Wilson Walton:

Valentine's Day, 2007, we were less than a week away from getting married. Needless to say, between work, the wedding plans, and finding an apartment to live in, we barely had time to breathe. We met at a local pizza place (which, sadly, has since closed) and ate pizza. While we were enjoying being together and enjoying one of our favorite foods, I told him we should make eating pizza a tradition for Valentine's Day. Ever since then, for most Valentine's Days, we have had pizza. In fact, we even have plans to have that this week. As it happens, we have been going full throttle with our busy schedules. We're looking forward to having pizza at another local pizza place just down the road from our house and having a fun conversation.

From Mindy Obenhaus:

The first year my husband and I were married he asked me where I wanted to go for dinner. I told him he’d better make reservations, but he said, “Why? It’s only a Wednesday. It’s not like Valentines is that big a deal.”  When we got to the restaurant, there was a minimum hour wait. Same at the next restaurant. I finally told him to swing by the grocery store and I’d pick up one of the surf and turf packages they offered and cook it at home.

They were all out. We ended up buying fried chicken and eating at home. After that, I decided we would never go out on Valentine’s Day again. Instead, I’d fix the two of us a restaurant-worthy dinner at home, complete with china and crystal. I got my fancy meal and flowers and we were never disappointed again.

From Mary Connealy:

My Cowboy used to get a Valentine for me and a smaller one for each of the girls. One year, for example, before my fourth daughter was born, he bought me three roses and each of the girls one rose...for a total of half dozen. One year he bought me a large bouquet and three small bouquets for the girls. I remember one year a neighbor was babysitting for my daughters and My Cowboy was scheduled to pick them up. He took a flower to the neighbor lady. Later she told me that single rose was all she got. Her husband didn't get her anything. She said, "Your husband gave me a better Valentine than my husband." Anyway, she said it with a smile on her face and it warmed my heart that My Cowboy was spreading flowers near and far.

From Ruthy Logan Herne:

We've had one funeral home in town for as long as I can remember. It's a small town, but with about 8,000 people, that funeral home does a steady business as babies come and old folks go and every year the funeral director takes all the new widowers and widows out for a Valentine's Day lunch. They don't all come... but they're all invited. And he makes sure they're not spending that first Valentine's Day alone.

From Jan Drexler:

My favorite Valentine's memory:

Years ago, when our children ranged in age from one to ten years old, I wanted to be able to take them places (like the library) while my husband was at work. A new wagon had just come on the market from Little Tykes. I'm sure you've seen them: a seat at each end and spot in the middle for the children's feet. I had my heart set on that wagon. It was perfect. But I also knew how tight our budget was. There was no way we could afford it.

But on Valentine's Day, my husband gave me a HUGE package - you guessed it. It was my wagon!

Was it flowers? Candy? A nice dinner out? No. But it was the most romantic present he ever gave me, because he put my wants and needs first.

From Winnie Griggs:

I don't really have a memory to share per se, but I will say this.  My birthday falls on the day before Valentine's Day so it would be very easy for my hubby to do a two-for-one (as many did when I was younger), but instead he is always great about marking each day with a small gift of some sort. Always makes me feel special 

From Carrie Schmidt:

My parents always used to make fun scavenger hunts for us around the house for our Valentine's candy. They would create a rhyming clue that would point us to the next clue location. My brother (5 years younger than me) delighted in running from clue to clue but as soon as we would find the next clue, he'd hand it to me and start running toward the next clue ... before he knew where it was! LOL. I would read it and holler out to him to go to such and such an object or room. He'd beat me there and we'd start the pattern again. Then my mom would make a fun dinner with pats of butter cut out in the shape of hearts, applesauce with those red-hot hearts melted in it, some sort of entree/veggies, and dessert was usually angel food cake cut in heart shapes with strawberries and chocolate drizzle. Always a holiday I looked forward to!

From Sandy Smith:

I will submit a romantic moment memory. It wasn’t Valentine’s Day but it was when I first started dating my husband. He had invited me over to his house for a meal he had cooked. Throughout the meal, he kept pouring me more water and kept asking if I needed more. I kept telling him I was fine. Finally, I excused myself to use the restroom. When I walked into the bathroom, I saw a bouquet of red roses. I thought this guy really decorated his house well to keep roses in the bathroom. It took me a moment to realize the roses were for me and he kept giving me water in hopes I would need to use that room!

From Cindy Regnier:

The first Valentine’s Day after our third child was born, I wanted to do something special for my husband. I had a tie tack made for him with the three birthstones of our children. Unbeknownst to me, my husband was having a ring made for me with the same birthstones. I can just imagine that I-know-a-secret smile on the face of the jeweler who made both pieces on the same day! 

From Audra Harders:

Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, hands down. Hearts and love flung across the television and the US postal system like confetting, the holiday cheer wrapping everyone with warm fuzzies. Well, at least that was the consensus at my house, LOL! From the time they were very young, my kids were convinced Valentines Day was the forgotten national holiday!! 

So, fast forward to my daughter's freshman year of college. Oh, she was a wild one and a handful to manage throughout all her growing years, but once she left for college, she discovered the consequences of her actions lay solely on her shoulders. That said, one evening she and some friends went out and had a bit too much fun. Picture 3am, back in the dorm room and my daughter's roommate on the phone to her parents wailing about the fallout of their party-ing. When roommate got off the phone, she looked at my daughter and asked her of our reaction. My daughter shrugged and said, "are you kidding me? I'm not waking my mom up at 3am on her favorite holiday to tell her I got in trouble. I'll wait until I know she's had at least 2 cups of coffee in her and has opened a cute card from my dad!" 

My daughter remains to this day, a very astute young lady, LOL.

From Missy Tippens:

Most of my favorite memories of Valentine’s Day are from childhood. I remember really looking forward to the gifts my parents (actually, my mom did the purchasing) would leave for my sister and me—usually something personal like underwear or pajamas with hearts on them or cute socks. And of course, a small heart-shaped box of chocolates! Those gifts always made me feel special.

Okay, readers, what about you? Would you like to share a memory? Let’s celebrate the many kinds of love! We will also have a surprise giveaway or two down in the comments. So leave a comment if you’d like to be entered! (Winners announced in the Weekend Edition.)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!