My little Valentine
Valentine’s Day. 1989.
I sat in my classroom, eagerly clutching my shoe box that had been converted the night before to hold valentines. A slit had been cut in the top to deposit the small envelopes. How many would I get? Would I receive the most? What if no one gave me a valentine? What kind of loser would that make me? Would he ask me to be his valentine? I remember clutching my box of hearts, delighted and anxious to tip them over on my desk and begin to count.
Looking to bring back a bit of that nostalgia, I went to CVS to get some valentines for Sophie to send out. Naturally, I had fifteen minutes to get them in the mail for last pick-up. As I perused the aisles stuffed with cheap candy and lovey dovey junk, I marveled at the lack of simple valentines. Where were all the cute hearts? The simple, heart felt valentines? I was stuck with Star Wars, Hello Kitty or origami. I chose origami and let out a string of curses as I attempted to fold them in anything remotely resembling origami. If anyone asked me, I’d tell them Sophie did it. I put the pen in her hand and let her sign her name and hustled her back in the Ergo down the street to deposit them in the mailbox.
On this Valentine’s Day, I hid a card under Alex’s workout clothes and discovered a card from him on the steering wheel and another one balanced against our bathroom mirror early this morning. As I pored over his words, I felt my breath quicken and my heart flip. How I love this man…
Letters of love
We are a family of cards and letters. They take up glass jars, bins and have even been compiled into journals and books. To look back on all that we have shared reminds me how lucky I am.
Would I kill to go out on a romantic dinner with him, even though I don’t really buy into V Day? Absolutely.
Instead, I snuggle with my valentine. I lay beside her, both of our bellies touching. I listen to her breathe and sigh as she drifts to sleep. I decide to destroy our kitchen for the thirtieth time this morning and make some of Heather Crosby’s delicious beet and kale cocoa muffins (sans frosting).
YumUniverse muffins!
I rearrange furniture and tick items off my to-do list.
I think about how weird my life has become; and how last Saturday night, the most interesting thing I did was ask to see Alex’s asshole. (Yes, this really happened.)
“What?” he screeched. “Why?!”
“Because I’ve never seen it. I bet it’s really cute. Let me see it.”
“No way!”
“Let me see your asssshollllllle!”
I screamed like a toddler, face turning red, cheeks puffed, fists balled.
We bantered like this for minutes, until I realized what we were actually bantering about. While people were out, doing all sorts of things, I was asking to see my husband’s corn hole. What is wrong with me????
I think an intervention might be in order soon. But, in another way, you can tell you really love someone when you ask to get so personal.
I love my husband. I love all of him… I love him when things are great, when they’re bad, when he’s moody or tired or quiet. I hope to always bring this unconditional element to Sophie’s life; to teach her to love hard and often and to get to the core of someone… She just might have to do some digging (but hopefully she will never ask to see someone’s butt hole). I will have to draw the line there.
Happy Love Day!
I literally fell out of my chair when I read that part about your husband! That’s awesome that you actually wrote that and it’s so true… once you have kids your life takes on a whole new interesting meaning! Keep the romance alive – however you can.
Those muffins look great. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Ha – thanks, Adrian! Having kids definitely makes everything more interesting. Happy V Day to you too!
Hilarious. Heartfelt. Honest. Perfect for this holiday. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading and for the nice comment, Eric.
Your daughter is so cute. It’s ridiculous. This is hilarious! On a deeper note I too remember getting those valentines in school – there’s nothing better.
There was nothing better! I can’t wait for Sophie to experience the same thing… though I have a hunch they’ll be exchanging e-valentine’s on their in-class iPads or something stupid like that.
I love my husband too, but I’m not sure I love him THAT much! Ha. So very funny and heart warming. Happy Valentine’s Day, Rea!
It is a deep love that drove me to ask… I’m not afraid to admit it! Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!
Love the muffins. YumUiverse is one of my favorite sites. Are they hard to make? I haven’t made those yet. This is too funny. Your daughter is a doll.
YU is amazing – Heather is truly a genius! They are very easy to make. The “hardest” part is just dicing and peeling the beat and waiting for it to steam. Other than that, super easy!
Um I would never admit this to anyone else, but I’ve done the same thing! I asked my boyfriend that and he died! So funny though. It’s what life’s al about. Happy valentine’s day!
You are a brave soul.
We are now connected. It is what life’s all about – literally (and in so many ways). Have a great V Day!
YESSSSS! Cornhole! You are hysterical Rea Frey Holguin. Fucking hysterical!
Ha! Thanks, Lynette!!!
PS Alex, Unsolicited advice: Save the cornhole debut til your 15th Anniversary. After 17 years of being with someone I can say there are but a few NEW angles from which to see your mate and this would be worth keeping in your back pocket as a sure relationship refresher- the cherry atop the chocolate sundae of intimacy.
(**Of course my mate growns and changes all the time (I require that in a mate!) and that is awesome but he is essentially the same wonderfully good essence he was 17 years ago. A debut of some sort injects a refresher that can be profound, but is at least, fun and playful, and requires me to see him more separately or more objectively, if you will, like the rest of the world does and to appreciate him a new — even if its a cornhole debut!)
This is STELLAR advice. It’s amazing you’ve been with your partner for 17 years… I can’t believe how swiftly time flies. Continuing to see your partner as an individual is KEY, I think – not just “conditioned” to the roles we stuff them in.
Steve is a lucky man!
This is a very funny post! Love your blog!
This is a very funny post! Love your site!
Thanks so much!!!