Be My Valentine

Thank you for all the kind words on the last entry. I truly appreciate all the thought that was put into a lot of the comments. I really do want to hear others feelings and opinions on this... on God, and loss, and why....

I'm really happy that so many people like the prayer. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me.

Let me tell you the irony of this prayer though... my grandmother who gave it to me 20 years ago, was the biggest worrier alive. She worried to the point where she made herself sick. If you were supposed to be at her house at 10 am and were not there by 9:55 am then you were undoubtedly laying dead in a ditch somewhere. She worried her whole life away. She had a strong faith she loved and held onto... watching her read her daily prayers every single morning are some of my earliest memories. But she could never quite have enough faith to really believe that God would take care of her. Maybe that is part of what motivates me to try and be as optimistic as I can be.

(I'm talking about my grandmother in the past tense like she's dead. She's not... she's almost 92 and her mind is going.... she really doesn't even know who I am, though she always remembers Katie and Charlotte. And she still worries... it's just that now she's worrying about the little people she thinks are living in her kitchen cabinets and why the CBS News Anchor isn't waving back to her....)

Valentine's Day was nice, if uneventful. I made PJ his favorite meal, so we were probably the only couple in America dining on corned beef and cabbage as our romantic V-Day dinner. :)

I spent the entire previous week trying to get Valentine Cards for everyone, it was just overwhelming how many I needed to get. Cards from us to the girls, from the girls to PJ, from the girls to my parents, to his parents, from me to PJ, from me to my parents.... it took forever and with two crazy maniacs trying to climb out of the shopping cart I can no longer leisurely peruse the cards and pick just the exact right one. But I thought about all those Valentine's Days when all I really wanted was someone to buy a card for... anyone (other than my mother of course.) I've had many a lonely Valentine's. To have SO many people to love, how lucky I am. I could never have guessed back then on one of those lonely holidays how much love i would someday have. I should not complain. Though I do of course wish there was one more little Valentine in that pile.... the one for my sweet Jack.

Taking pictures of these two is not nearly as easy as it used to be.

Valentines Day 2008, my sweet angels:



Valentines Day 2009, my little monkeys!





Me and Katie... we tried to get all three of us but Charlotte was DONE.



Happy (Belated) Valentines Day!