It’s the season of love, everybody! Putcha hands togetha, now, and celebrate the heart shaped boxes, too much chocolate, dozens of dozens of roses, candlelight dinners…I’ll tell ya…Valentine’s Day is a real winner – especially for the single, and even moreso for the bitter. I know tomorrow morning, I won’t be donning new jewlery, or eating apple fritters and scrambled eggs on one of those folding bed-in-breakfast trays. A year ago, I wouldn’t have been ok with that. A year ago, I’d probably be tempted to spend Valentine’s Day lip synching “Love Stinks” and “Shot Through the Heart” into a hair brush microphone in front of a mirror (and I know I’m not the only one who’s seen that side of the fence). But Valentine’s Day stirs up more than sadness in those who are “alone,” and more than emotion between those who have someone and the ones who they have. In me, it stirs up something different.
I have this desire, you see, to love everyone like my parents used to remind me to do when I was little; to love everyone like my God loves everyone. “Love is, above all else, the gift of oneself.” I revel in that quote every time I read it; my sentiments exactly. I tremble at the thought of love; at the thought of selflessly, sacrificially putting someone else ahead of myself. Love isn’t skipped heartbeats or warm and fuzzy feelings. Love isn’t long hugs, holding hands or having sex. “Love is, above all else, the gift of oneself.”
