A Valentine

Tis the day of pink and red and hearts....

Champagne kisses

Red Cashmere

Someone forgot to tell the Amaryllis to stop blooming...

Red Tulips

Glass Hearts

Pink Sequins

Tiffany Hearts

It is also the 30th anniversary of my first date with Barry.  Which was followed two months later by my engagement to Barry and four months later by our marriage.

You'd almost think I was a mail order bride or something, wouldn't you?

We've spent the last 30 years getting to know one another, which, if truth be told, is not a bad way to spend 30 years.

 

The week of February 14, 1985 Wham's Careless Whisper was #1 on the charts, but we were obsessed with Tears for Fears, Ziggy Stardust and U2.  I think we listened to a lot of Kate Bush then, too, because Mark Lutes was obsessed with her.  We outlasted Wham and Tears for Fears, but at least Bowie and U2 are going strong!

We were in our last year of university and to say we had the future plotted out wouldn't be a gross exaggeration, it would be an outright lie.

In fact, during the three years that followed that first date, we lived all over the country, were happy, were unhappy, had adventures, had boredom, but most of all, had a strange optimism that things would all turn out okay in the end.  And mostly, they have.

The best things we did were these two people

This picture, taken by my cousin Ana, is still my favourite of the two of them

and the friends we've collected along the way.

I have spent my whole life being insanely curious about the people around me.  I love people and I love their stories.  As a police officer, he was always a little more circumspect about the world.

Barry is my valentine,

and tonight we are going to Brewbakers for dinner, where, exactly 30 years ago today and when it was the Cosmopolitan Nightclub, we went for a drink and I asked "Are we just going to be friends?" (yes I was always that straightforward) and he famously replied "I have enough friends".  Hard to argue with that kind of logic.

But besides my family - McLeods and other others - my many friends are also my valentines:

• My old pals from St. Stephen
• My high school buddies from Fredericton
• My university friends
• People I've worked with throughout my career who turned into friends
• People I've found through the 'net

One of the happiest things in life is discovering that there is no limit to the number of people you can love.

We are only limited by our capacity to embrace people and be open to their gifts.

So happy Valentines Day - May you blessed with love and may you create it.  Nothing else matters.

xoxo wendy