thanks for the valentine's day memories

“It’s the little things that count the most.”  We have all heard and probably said this phrase many times, but the past year has really made a believer out of me.  As Valentine’s Day approaches, another first without Mike, I am reminded of our past Valentine’s Days.  I always gave him a card and you can know that I read many cards before I found just the perfect one.  Sometimes they were funny and sometimes they were serious, just according to the mood I was in at the time.
Mike, on the other hand, always gave me a gift.  Sometimes he would include a card and sometimes he would not.  Most of the time, he gave me a box of chocolates, you know the kind with the different flavored stuff in the middle.  The kind that most people do not like, but he knew I loved those things.  I could eat the whole box in one day.  However, there were lots of years, when I would be dieting, imagine that, and I would tell him to please not buy me candy.  So on those occasions, he would buy me something crazy.  One year it was a big stuffed frog holding a big red heart that said, “I love you.” Another time it was a dancing gorilla singing some goofy song.  On another occasion, it was a bouquet of dancing and singing flowers.  He would usually bring the gifts to me in my classroom and so my students would enjoy them as much as I did.  You know they love to push buttons.
This year, there won’t be a card or a crazy gift and that’s okay because I know that he loved me and I know I was his Valentine.  And I also have these wonderful memories from the 38 years he was with me.  I have every card or gift that he has ever given me and I will pull them out and read them on Valentine’s Day.  And I must confess, last week I was in Wal-mart and as I approached the Valentine’s aisle, I started walking really fast so I would not have to see those cute little crazy gifts. But then something stopped me and I turned and went back.  I slowly walked down the aisles trying to decide which one of those silly things Mike would buy me if he was here.  And it actually brought a smile to my face. Thanks for the memories, Mike.  I love and miss you!

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