Valentine’s Day 2021—a snowy frigid winter day in New Mexico! We’ve experienced a different celebration today yet so good! How have you spent your day?
Still we face coronavirus restrictions, so we had no choice of eating out to celebrate this day. Our marriage has spanned ten years, and Lin and I have been together for eleven. As the years rolled by, this celebratory day of love has changed.
Early in our relationship, Lin filled it with memorable times of special gifts and memorable nights. Now we comfortably celebrate in much less dramatic ways, yet know the depth of our love grows each year. Now, we exchange cards, flowers and nominal gifts.
As I pondered the whole impact of the holiday today, I found some really poignant and fun memes I’d like to share with you:
Years don’t lessen the love in a relationship—it doesn’t have to grow stale. In fact, we have deepened our relationship, especially with the intense togetherness the pandemic forced on all of us. As we went through this unsettling time mostly 24/7, I found a deep-rooted respect for Lin and his work ethics. His humor delights me every morning when he serenades me and Jesse, my cat, belting out a rhyming ditty he created on the spot. His deep care and commitment to me still leaves me breathless!
The routine we created during this time together comforts my soul: a leisure morning of Lin reading his current history book and me doing my Quiet Time then Cribbage and breakfast. We go our separate ways then lunch together and a thirty-minute comedy series where we laugh together. We spend our afternoons separate on our own endeavors. Then after his workout and my walk, we head towards the hot tub for warmth and again a leisure time to talk over our world’s matters.
After a shower and dinner, we sit shoulder-to-shoulder watching our favorite British detective solve yet another crime. Before the finale, we share our choices of the villain!
Then off to bed we go! Quite a different routine for us than our usual busy lifestyle of constant dancing and traveling. And the benefit yielded—wow!
Right now, Lin naps on the loveseat downstairs waiting for the Nascar race to restart after a rainstorm. This last week, he has worked hard in the yard, preparing for spring planting, so he needs the nap and refreshment.
I write at my laptop in the loft and I hear only his soft snores—the heartwarming music of my Valentine’s Day with a dear, dear man for many years, still so, so good!
Finally, I love the reward of time together in a relationship, and I value Lin Miller as much today as I did ten years ago—maybe more because of what we have experienced.
What’s your routine? How has your relationship grown during the pandemic? How did you spend Valentine’s Day?
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I attended two Zoom meetings on Valentine’s Day: “church” with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Frederick, and later the Write Now! class with Carol Darrow of the Colorado Genealogical Society.
My only “Love” experience was falling head over heels in love with Norman Chichester in 1957. He left me in 1980 and I didn’t really “have” anyone after that. So, Valentine’s Day for me has many mixed feelings, and no one sent me a Valentines card. I sent four cards to my kids and grandkids here in the mid-Atlantic region.
Did you get my order for your books?
Wishing you continuing love with Lin and happy dancing when it returns.
~Joy Chichester
Joy, Thanks for your comments. No I never got an order. Did you email me or ho through Etsy?