Special Days

Well, today is Valentine's Day. A day we set aside to send chocolates, flowers, and our messages of love to the ones we hold dear. I have to say that I’m not a big Valentine's kind of guy. If you’ve read any of my prior entries you are probably shocked by that statement. Like most of our other Holidays that promote setting aside a day to stop and reflect on the people we love, it feels a bit forced for me. I try my best to show those I love every day how much they truly mean to me. I wonder how many are saying “Bah Humbug” right now? Well, hear me out. Don’t you want to receive every day the kindness and attention you do on those “Special” days? Don’t we struggle every day with battles seen and unseen that require the same kindness or respect we are afforded on those days? I’m not against the whole deal, I just hate the fact that Mr. 1-800 Flowers, Mr. Whitman, and Ms. Hallmark are the big beneficiaries. We live in a world with such a love deficit, that we bastardize it with a nice heart-shaped box. Maybe I’m all wrong? Maybe I’m being too cynical? We do get so wrapped up in our everyday lives, that maybe we do need days to slow us down so we can take a breath, to smell the coffee? I just know what my heart tells me. Love like there’s no tomorrow and be prepared to do it for a lifetime. I’m so conscious of that every day that sometimes it hurts. For so many years I was shut down emotionally, stymied by a society that said boys don’t cry, and it is weak to tell others that you need them. And never, ever be vulnerable to anyone!!! WOW! Where did that come from? I guess I just needed to say it? So how do I wrap this up into a nice little bow? I guess all I can say is this. If you are reading this, it means you are special to me. It means you are worth my risking your perception of me, by allowing you to see who I really am on the inside. As self-centered as it may seem, I am giving you the gift of knowing who I am. I believe life is a gift, and it is all we really have to give to each other. Mine is yours to take and hold, or to put on a shelf next to the 2-year-old fruit cake from Aunt Sally. All I can do is give you, hopefully, the best of me every day and not just on those “Special Days.”