Valentine's Day

The first Valentine's Day that I remember vividly was in 1986. We had just moved from California to Florida to Georgia, all in the span of less than six months. I was six years old, and needless to say, it was stressful on my little brain. My parents were no help.

I came home from school on February 14, 1986, full of joy from my bright pink and red trimmings, and dozens of little candies and Valentines from my new school friends. I was excited to share this with them, and for the first time in my life, I got home, and no one was there. Anywhere. I tried all the doors, rang the bell and eventually settled down to sob uncontrollably on my front porch and mourn my abandonment.

My first mom died when I was fourteen months old. Although I have always had her family in my life, obviously, I have no personal memories of her. My father did, and to this day does, love her very much. So, when he met and married my second mom, it was only natural that they come home and surprise me with their impromptu courthouse marriage with great enthusiasm and delight.

I wasn't having any of it. To this day, I make sure to remind them that it is the Anniversary of My Abandonment. It's a running joke, now, and it was actually my (second) mom that reminded me this year. I suppose I sort of gave up last year when I had to remind both of them that it was their silver wedding anniversary. These unceremonious people have never even bought wedding rings.

So, I've never really been into Valentine's Day, and I blame my parents. Today I completely forgot that it was Valentine's Day, despite putting together my daughter's Valentine's gifts for her class last night. The guy that I bought coffee from this morning reminded me. My husband texted me (naturally, he's perfectly fine with not having to buy any overpriced crap for me), and that was enough.

But, then, there was a knock on the door of my office (we have random crazy people show up that we'd rather not have to extract from inside of the building). My boss opened the door, and I heard a sweet voice ask if I was in. He let the sweet voice in, and an old friend of mine came to my desk and presented me with a gift bag containing a card, a darling tote she picked up because it "reminded [her] of [me]," and a gift she had lovingly made herself. The gift she made herself was a project she had done as a child, had always wanted to do again, and she timed the delivery of it to me, and to people all over (I know of at least four recipients - probably more - and we're not all local), to coincide with Valentine's Day.

Random acts of kindness and love. Now, that's what today should be all about.