Sunday is Valentine’s Day and people are finishing their search for that perfect item that tells the one they love how much they love them.
And the weather is not cooperating. With all the snow and ice we’ve received lately, many will be lucky if they can hunt down more than a card. Of course it doesn’t matter what the gift is, it is the sentiment behind it; the fact that your loved one cares for you so much they wanted to show that love with a material item, whatever it may be.
I am a hopeless romantic and the thought of my loved one searching high and low for that perfect gift that conveys how much I mean to him gives me shivers of pleasure. I used to fantasize what it would feel like to be so loved that not just any random card would do.
The gift, no matter the size or cost, would be special because of all the thought that went into it. It could be anything; a special dinner cooked just for me, a pair of earrings, a bottle of perfume, even a simple card that said I love you. Anything would be special because of the thought that went behind it.
Though I am a hopeless romantic and get stars in my eyes just thinking about love and sharing your feelings with a special someone, I do live in the real world.
And in the real world tokens of love are delivered every day wrapped up in ordinary gestures. For me, it’s a special someone who leaves for work early in the cold, wintry mornings and still takes time to scrape the snow or frost off of my windows. He’s someone who picks up a jar of pickles every once and a while because he knows I like them. He’s someone who will watch a certain television show with me, even though he doesn’t really care for the show, or even television for that matter. He’s someone that will get a card just because he found a nice one while he was doing some early morning shopping on a Sunday. He’s someone that will make a cup of tea for me while I am sick and makes sure there are plenty of tissues, the good kind with the aloe in them. That’s reality. Or at least my reality anyway.
So though I get all sentimental and sappy when I watch the jewelry, candy, or flower commercials, I know I won’t be getting a bunch of roses, a box of candy, or any jewelry. What I will be getting is a caring gesture in some way, be it a special dinner, a heartfelt I love you with a sweet kiss, or a moment where he tells me a story and makes me laugh.
I sure hope everyone out there has a great Valentine’s Day with the one they love. I know I will, even if it’s just another Sunday spent like every Sunday, because it’s those everyday moments that make me realize how much I love him and how much he loves me.
There is no expensive bouquet of flowers or diamond ring that can take the place of a kind word or a gentle touch that comes every day, not just one day a year. Nothing makes me happier then spending time with the one I love.
(Lorie Thompson of Heber Springs is the Co-Editor for The Sun-Times. Her column appears here each Friday. Email her at lifestyles@thesuntimes.com)
