Valentine's Day

When I was a kid I loved Valentine’s Day. I remember my dad always buying my mom a Valentine Card (a really nice one from Hallmark) and a big heart-shaped box of chocolates. I never doubted that my dad loved my mom whole-heartedly and completely, just as she loved him. They had been friends since they were little – going through elementary school together, skipping 7^th grade together, and getting married at only 19. They had been married 63 years when she passed away – and he missed her EVERY SINGLE DAY for the next 5 years until he joined her. They literally spent their whole lives together – and especially on Valentine’s Day, they did a great job showing their love to each other.

And it wasn’t just my mom that got special treatment on Valentine’s, because Dad always bought me a cute card and my own little heart-shaped box of chocolates too.  It was the kid-version, but since I was a kid, it was PERFECT. Not only did I know that my parents loved each other completely, but I never once doubted my father’s love for me too.

Even though I may not have a “Special Someone” in my life this year, as I see all those heart-shaped boxes of chocolate lining the store shelves – I smile. I smile because I have been blessed with great love in my life. I smile because of the great memories those boxes conjure up. I smile because I know that love is much more than just a romantic notion but something that touches and enlarges your heart. I smile because I still believe that I can have a love like that my parents shared.

Some people don’t appreciate Valentine’s Day, but even single, I still do. And one day I’m hoping that I’ll again have a wonderful, loving man in my life that will buy me my very own heart-shaped box of chocolates.

Favorite Pens

Everyone has one – one of those pens that makes your handwriting look good and just feels so natural in your hand. I love pens like that!  A number of years ago I got a beautiful Pen Box for displaying my pens.  It has a glass top so that all of my favorite pens can be seen, but not touched.  When I moved the box got put away, because my ex could never find a pen and would just grab one of my favorite pens – and then IT would disappear.  So my Pen Box has been sitting in its own box, tucked away in storage.

This weekend when I cleaning out a few boxes, I came upon this Pen Box.  It was like being reunited with an old friend!  My heart leapt a little, and I stopped everything that I was doing and carried the box to a place of honor in my Living Room.

And this Pen Box contains more than pens – it contains memories.  The pen Marg & Lee (my Mormon Godparents) gave me for High School Graduation.  The pen my boss at Franklin Covey gave me as a gift for writing a proposal that landed a $2 million contract.  A pen that belonged to my dad when he was the age I am now.  The pen I splurged on in Denver on vacation just because it felt so good in my hand.

I ran upstairs to grab some paper and sat down to write.  A few of the pens need new refills, but there is just something so grand about a GOOD pen.  I felt that with that pen in my hand I needed to write something important.  I felt like I could have written the Declaration of Independence with this accumulation of strength from these pens.

And that’s so true – there is strength in pens.  And not just in a Mont Blanc.  But the strength comes from what pens can do.  With a pen in hand: you can teach a child to write, you can witness a marriage, you can profess your love to someone, you can write a poem, you can sign a divorce decree, you can write your Last Will & Testiment.

Next time you’re out, splurge a little a buy a nice pen – and then let it do what pens should do.  Pen in hand, pen to paper – write something from your heart, and then share it with the world.

 

"The pen is mightier than the sword -- and considerably easier to write with." -- Marty Feldman