Valentine's Day 2019
Luke: “I don’t give up in Jui Jitsu. Even if it’s hard, I keep going.”
Me: “That’s the best thing Jui Jitsu can possibly teach you. That’s how it is in life. It will get hard, and if you just don’t give up, you’re going to be OK.”
Luke: “But what if you get hurt and you cry?”
Me: “Sometimes you get hurt and it’s OK to sit it out and cry until it doesn’t hurt so bad. Then you get back in.”
Luke: “Yeah.”
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Zo: “The popular girls at my school are also the nice girls. In Steamboat the popular girls were the mean girls. And I’m kind of popular, because I’m friends with the popular girls. Mommy, is it important to be popular?”
Me: “No, it’s important to be kind and brave and true to yourself and to try your best, that’s what we care about, right?”
Zo: “Right!”
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Listening to a love song playlist on Alexa and it’s bringing back lots of non-romantic Valentine’s memories:
Of all my mom did each year to make the holiday special, especially the Valentines box we could add Valentines for each family member to
Of my smart and (to me) so worldly friend Brenda Lurz who died way too young
Of Seattle in the grunge era and my fabulous beautiful sweet kind blonde roommates and “Fly Me to the Moon” and “At Last” and “I Will Always Love You”
Of a rainy night and a warm cab in San Francisco, sky-blue sheets and a window fogged from the rain waiting at home
Of Santa Barbara after my brother died when my friend Clayton played Ms. Pac Man with me at the rainbow-colored Wildcat before going out on his romantic date
Of Charlie in the same era and Fugees Killing me Softly which he and I must of played on the use and guitar or why would I remember it?
Of making Valentines with my precious babes, new ones each year
And (on a romantic note), of my husband, who doesn’t like holidays and big shows of things but is there for me day in and day out, shows up in the way it counts, and who I am so lucky to be with…
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And this year, handwritten Valentines (hand-drawn on my part) and heart shaped sugar cookies baked with the kids frosted and stapled into waxed paper sleeves, it’s been super fun…
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You know the saying used to show off Boston accents: “I parked the car in Harvard yard.”
The kids’ version is “I parked the car in aardvark yard.” Cracks me up every time :)
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Hope everyone had a good Valentine’s Day!
XO
