Valentines down Memory Lane

Valentines day has never been one of my favorite holdays...Not for any particular reason. I have never been scorned badley and wished the day of love never existed - I guess I just never thought it was any big deal. Gary doesn't ever go out of his way to be romantic on February 14th, but nor do I .....I guess we just know we love eachother all year round - we don't need to pick out just one day to say it. So anyway, today is Valentines day - Gary worked last night, so had to sleep all day today, and.....we got eachother....nothing....for Valentines day. Actually, I didn't really think about it until my sister, who does as little as possible to be "mushy" to her husband, even got him a Valentine Card.....I still did nothing. This morning at coffee and Donuts at the farm, my mother told me that her and my father had come across our wedding video (on VHS). We talked about how cute my niece and nephew had been that day, and of some of the amusing moments captured on tape.....Got me thinking.....Awwww, it's Valentines day, Gary and I are approaching our 10th Wedding anniversary this summer,.....our life story together really began on Valentines day.....in 1992.

I had actually called up a friend of Gary's and invited him to come to a Valentines dance at my school. I was interested in him...I don't even remember if I knew who Gary was at that time...I think I just knew of him. If you knew who the friend was, you know that even entertaining the idea of a relationship with him makes me cringe and thank goodness for unfulfilled wishes....

That Friend showed up at the dance, and brought Gary with him. They were from the rival school, and it was always wise to come in pairs. The friend was the real outgoing one - too outgoing - So outgoing that he danced with just about every girl at the dance EXCEPT me.... but it was all good - Gary came to my rescue - he asked me to dance. he listened to me complain about the inconsiderate friend, and he became the guy I was glad came to the dance. After a week and a few phone calls later, Gary asked me to "Go out" ( go steady, be his girlfriend, - however you called it when you were 15) ......That was February 23rd.

Really long story short - Gary and I have been together ever since. It will be 18 years next week. At about 3:00 this afternoon, my Mom showed up with a DVD copy of our wedding for us. Our Valentine's Gift. I seriously thought the kids would just be so interested in watching it with us. NOPE. they really could have cared less. So we watched it from start to finish, remarking on how different we - and everyone else looks. It was hard to see the loved ones who have passed away since then, but in some respects it is great to be able to see them again. My sister's kids were just the cutest and I am aspiring to be back to that "pre-children" size again by the time we walk down the isle at Gary's sister's wedding (august).

And now it is 6:30 at night, Gary is back at work for another 12 hour shift........Happy Valentine's Day Hun.