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I don’t often talk about Valentine’s Day mainly because it means different things for different people.  Many do not have a spouse, a boyfriend or girlfriend, or a significant other.  Valentine’s Day can bring on feelings of sadness, resentment, and loneliness.

Valentine’s Day conjures up pictures of a couple staring into one another’s eyes with bubbly and chocolates.  As my 11 year old grandson would say, “Yuk!”  I don’t like champagne and I can’t indulge in a lot of chocolate because it makes me gain weight, and stops the evacuation process.  None of which makes me happy.

For others it’s a holiday that exhibits silent groans (or maybe not so silent groans) and feel it’s a holiday best ignored.

I have been blessed with 45 years of marriage and we have lived long enough to find ourselves retired and by the grace of God still together.  As retired folk, we celebrate every day we are living and breathing because we’ve had several times where we thought that medical mayhem would separate us permanently.   Nevertheless, we usually exchange a card and maybe go out to dinner.  While not memorable it’s simple and nice and fits us.

But our society tends to categorize and “pigeon hole” people and holidays and what and how one is “suppose” to celebrate them.

I’d like to suggest we open up the way we celebrate and with whom we celebrate; specifically as it relates to surviving life and medical mayhem. Your Valentine might be your grandchild with whom you have that special relationship.  Maybe it’s the sweet relationship you now have with your daughter who is not just your daughter but now, too, your friend.  She is your Valentine.  It’s the young neighbor who cuts your side of the lawn when he cuts his own because he knows how hard it is in your advancing year.  Your Valentine is the friend from work who moves in with you to help you through surgery and recovery.  It’s your sister who flies into town to help you through your next major medical adversity.  A valentine is the neighbor who seeing the single lady next door struggling with her final weeks of life, lost and alone; arranges other neighbors to be there to support her.  Your Valentine is someone special who cares about you and whom you care about in return.

Valentine’s Day is about relationships.  Relationships are a two way street of sharing and caring.  Care givers show their love by helping those they love.  Care receivers show their love by allowing the caregiver to share their abilities and know they make a difference in what they are able to do.  It is a gift each one receives every time they reach out to one another.

Today if you are blessed with a spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend or significant other by all means celebrate with them.  But don’t forget to look around to those that make you smile, laugh, feel like you belong and make you happy and content.  Tell them why they are your Valentine and be sure to tell them that you are theirs.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Thank you for reading my post.  If you have found it encouraging please consider liking, commenting or sharing it.  Feel free to comment here or even re-blog – may these words take flight!

I have additional insights I’d love to share with you found in the pages of my debut book: Surviving Medical Mayhem – Laughing When It Hurts.  To order a copy or learn more go to my website at www.lorettaschoen.com

Blessings for Health & Wellness.