In case you forgot, as I did, today is Valentine's Day. I thought of writing some grand words about the heart and its functions, both physical and otherwise, but I decided maybe not today. I will say that physically, The Husband, has committed to a research trial of sorts regarding a heart implant. It's random choosing so he has a 50/50 chance of being chosen for the implant to be implanted or just be in the trial to be observed with his medicines. Either way will be fine even though the benefits of the implant to him physically would be a big deal. Time will tell. I could relate to you the hurts that happen otherwise in the heart but I'm going to save that for another day. The "hurts" are still fresh and I want to do that particular post justice so just consider it to be "coming soon".
With all that said and with the effort of collecting my heart thoughts, I decided to do a throwback Valerientine's Day and share one of my favorite articles about the subject. It was in the newspaper long ago--yes, I was a newspaper article clipper--and it was so true, spoke so many loud volumes to my own heart, and so "Me" that I just had to clip and eventually share. On this particular day in this particular year, it means even more to my heart than the day I clipped it. It was written by a woman named Judy Elliott in the editorial section of the newspaper. Judy Elliott was a very wise woman. Her article deserves a yearly read.
"The 14th of February fell a week to the day after I married. I rushed home from my teaching job, threw a clean cloth on a card table, tied red streamers on my new husband's chair and popped up an 8 x 10 Valentine by his plate. Then I waited for him to burst through the door, a bouquet of red roses in his arms. I threw together a heart-shaped chocolate cake from a mix and squirted red icing on the top. Newly-wed dessert with high expectations.
Finally, my groom showed up, a little late, but worth the wait I told myself. He took one look at the table and blanched white. He had forgotten it was Valentine's Day. No card. No flowers. No candy. I was crushed. He tried making polite conversation but I wasn't having any part of it. I dished up his dinner like it was prison food, plopped down in my folding chair and answered his "What's wrong?" question with all the maturity of a 22 year old bride. "Nothing," I sniffled. "Absolutely nothing." I pouted for three days, played the martyr and made both of us miserable..........
.....Seven years went by before, walking a sick baby in the night, I realized it was Cupid's day and I had forgotten to get him a valentine. It was his chance to whine, but he didn't. By then we were way past a candlelight dinner...I was scrubbing Gerber's oatmeal off the kitchen floor and he was taking his turn folding diapers. If he had brought flowers home, I would have had a sinking spell, knowing we needed the money to pay the pediatrician.......
....The same fella who forgot to remember me with a card on our first Valentine's Day together turned out to be a man who saw me through my mother's final illness and never left my side at her funeral. He rocked babies with earaches and drove carpools to Brownie meetings. All told, he probably spent four years of his life sitting on bleachers, watching swim meets and tennis matches. And when I had an operation, he stretched out on the uncomfortable chair by my bed and stayed at the hospital.
He'll never surprise me with a diamond ring in a box of Cracker Jacks...and he's yet to mention I can no longer fit into a size 8 dress. I'm a slow learner, but I finally realized it takes more than chocolate, valentines or roses to take care of the heart."
I ask you, my faithful blog readers, how can you NOT love that?
An I would be remiss to not say that this kind of love is right below the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the love list!
Happy Hearts' Day!
Consider......
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