It’s the day of love, Valentine’s Day!! I can go on about how it’s commercialized and takes the value away from what love truly means, instead I will discuss what it means to me. February 14th is my mother’s birthday. She naturally was me and my siblings valentine each year. When my siblings and I were younger, she’d always share her big red heart shaped box of chocolates with us. I always gave her a homemade Valentines. I never thought much of them, I thought maybe she’d just throw them away too.
She passed away in 2015, and the following year near her birthday all of my siblings were gathered together. We looked through her old papers, photos, and documents. So many memories raced through my mind. What brought me to tears was the last handmade birthday valentine I sent her from 2007. She kept it. I learned she kept a lot of things and it warmed my heart.
For the past few Valentine’s Day I’ve felt like a love waif. Who do I make a valentine for? I could list a whole bunch of people and its true they’d appreciate it. But no one would give me the satisfaction of sending a valentine to my favorite valentine, my mother. This year I will try something new. I will create a handmade valentine for her, telling her all the things I’d say if I saw her. I will then send another to a person I may have lost touch with via old snail mail. That’s it. Short and sweet.
I love you Darlin, not a day goes by that I don’t think of how your love covered us, completed us, and pushed us forward. Thank you for loving me.
mixed.colors.united. 