Happy Valentine's Day!

❤❣💝💟💘💙❤
To me, this day should be about two things: Appreciating your loved ones and eating chocolate covered strawberries. I try to always be appreciative of my forever Valentine, Daniel, so I thought I would share a few stories on this pink and red date that show why I fall more in love with my Mr. every day. I think that any occasion to pause and think about why we love the wonderful people in our lives is a splendid one. Daniel and I don't ever have too much luck in celebrating V Day- Our first Valentine's was spent in a plow truck. I spent the wee hours of the night fighting motion sickness because snow storms don't care about romantic holidays and we wanted to at least be together. This year, I have a game so I'll be coaching cheerleading instead of sipping champagne or making googly eyes at my husband. But that is okay. Together on this day or not, I am so thankful for my Valentine, my husband, for so many reasons. Here are a few:

He loves dogs

My husband and I have chocolate to thank for bringing us together…A Chocolate Lab. When Daniel and I were friends, he would show me pictures of Boomer, his Chocolate Lab, because he knew how much I love dogs. I also had a Chocolate Lab, so we would exchange cute dog pictures on our phones over great conversation. Daniel very skillfully used his furry friend to get to my heart and it worked flawlessly. His love for animals is one of the qualities I was so attracted to, because to me, a person’s love for a helpless pet shows how kind and caring they can be. I saw in his care for Boomer, and now Derby too, how he would care for our children and I am excited to see that same patient and warm demeanor one day with our fur-less babies.

He is my knight in shining armor

Daniel could have easily run off in the first year of our relationship, scared away by my keen ability to get myself into car trouble. That year, I was in three car "incidents". The first was my car accident. I was hit by an 80 year old man so hard that my car was pushed across the street and into a yard in the opposite side. I was hit in the head by a box of kitty litter I had in the back seat, spurring a concussion. I had kitty litter in my throat, in my clothes, in my eyes. My car was totaled and I was a mess. I was crying and struggling to communicate with the wrecking company or the police. Daniel came right away. He helped me explain where I was, scooped me up, and drove me all the way to Michigan to see my family. A few months later, a deer hit me. I was driving to work and an 8 point buck decided he didn't like being alive anymore, so he threw himself onto my car. Daniel drove all the way out to Frankfort, IN (a 45 minutes drive) to drive me home and get me into his car so I could at least get to work that day. I blew out a tire shortly after and he once again came to my rescue. He helped me hang curtains in my first apartment, changes my oil, drives me places when the weather is bad. I can always count on my sweet rescuer.

He sticks by me when I need it most

When you get married you dream of growing old together, which means playing with grandchildren and sipping coffee in wicker rocking chairs. My husband and I got a glimpse into that future in our first year of marriage when I broke my hip and had corrective surgery. We tested our wedding vows of “in sickness and in health” as Daniel took care of me in my “unflattering” moments during recovery. Most newlyweds do not yet experience the less-than-glamorous moments that we experienced while Daniel helped me learn to walk again and helped me bathe. While we never expected to test the waters that lie ahead so soon, the reality of growing older as a couple is that eventually, one of us will need the care and assistance that Daniel showed me in the weeks after breaking my hip. Caring for one another in this way is not the flowers and slow dancing brand of romance, but is romantic in a very important way. I learned that love means carrying your wife to the restroom when she is in pain, teaching her to use crutches, washing her hair when she cannot, and rewarding her first steps post-surgery with her favorite food, sushi.

Valentine's can be husbands, wives, moms, dads, dogs, friends- anyone who shows you love and makes life happier. Go enjoy your Valentine and take a moment to reflect on what makes them so special. Then, eat chocolate covered strawberries.