Happy Valentines Day!

In my 30 years of life I've had good Valentine days.  I've had bad ones too.  Story time!

Here is a bad Valentines Day:

It was either 2004 or 2005.  The kid I'd been kind of dating hadn't called for a week.  February 14th rolled around.  I was alone.  I was lonely.  I tried to make my self feel better by going running.  I did my 5 mile usual run.   Just as the sun was setting over the mountains I crested the top of a hill (by the Utah state capital.) It was a warm day.  The sky was amazing shades of pink and red.  Everything was so romantic including the couple I saw up ahead.  He was tall dark and handsome.  She had cascades of sleeping beauty hair reaching half way down her back.  They were strait out of a Vogue photo shoot.  

I was about 20 feet away when I saw the man go down on one knee and reach for his pocket.  Uh-Oh!  The girl started tearing up.  It was pretty obvious what was happening.  Uh-oh, Uh-oh. UH-OH!  Just picture it: setting sun, the man/woman you love, valentines day, silhouette of the capital in the back ground etc.  It was a perfect moment to get engaged.  Except for me.....the random jogger ruining the moment.  

I promise I would have run a different direction, but there was. nowhere. else. to. go.  They glanced at me and then quickly away.  I looked strait ahead and sprint past them as fast as I could, but I've never been a sprinter.  Two eternal minutes later I rounded a corner and finally gave them some privacy.  Then I realized I was crying.  Yep, that was a bad Valentines Day.  

Here is a good Valentines Day:  

It was 2007.  Spencer and I were dating but not engaged.  We were saying "I love you."  All signs pointed to marriage.  I was crazy about him and he me.  We simply could not get enough of each other.  Valentines morning he snuck into my room before my alarm went off and woke me up.  He brought me lots of red presents including a red toothbrush, a red Prada purse, a red balloon and a red candy bar.  

His "outfit" was the best part.  He'd made a shirt with my picture on it and had the caption below it:  "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like mine?"  For those of you who don't know this "quote" was a twist on a popular rock song from the time.   We had breakfast together.  I went off to teach school and he went off to work.  Later that night he picked me up and took me ice skating and then to Market Street Grill.  A few months later we got engaged.  

As for this year's valentines day...  

Today was just a normal day.  We didn't do anything fancy. We just bought a new (to us) car.  We paid cash so now we are feeling rather poor.  I made dinner while Spencer studied for a test.  It was a wonderful valentines day in a boring sort of way.  Despite the sad valentine day I described earlier where I ended up ruining someones engagement and crying, I've always liked this holiday celebrating love.   Valentines doesn't necessarily mean romantic.  We have all kinds of relationships with people we love.    

Happy Valentines Day to all lovers, friends, daughters, sons, grandchildren, grand parents, nieces, nephews, etc. etc. etc.   I hope you all have lots of people to love.