valentines schmalentines

as Valentines Day is here, i'd be the first to sign up and say that i am not going to get bogged down by relating this holiday for hearts and lovers and roses and chocolates with love.

there are so many kinds of love in this world, and while romantic love is one of them, there are so many other loves that are worth celebrating.

i try to show the love for all of its many forms in my life:

i have love for blue skies and hawks flying overhead.

i have love for earthworms that have been displaced by rainfall.

i have love for a good song blasting in my car with the windows down.

i have love for hugging an old friend or shaking hands with a new friend.

i have love for an unexpected, unsolicited phone-call from someone.

i have love for warm brownies made my other mother, Deborah.

i have love for everyone in my life, and for those that i haven't yet met.

i have love for my family and my friends.

i have love for myself.


and yes, it is strange to be single on Valentine's Day for the first time in over 6 years, and yes, it is hard to say out loud that i am legally separated and on my way to being unmarried by the time i am 24 years old. but you know, that is the best thing about love.

love is all around us, all the time, in all shapes and sizes. love is perfect in every form. love is what keeps us going when we want to give up and it is what picks us up when we have fallen down.

whether you have a special someone or not on Feb. 14 is not what love is all about.

love is more than that.

love is the tie that binds.

love is connection.

the challenge is to embrace it in all of its forms.