Valentine's Day!

This was our first Valentine's Day together...and my first as a non-single person. (When you are single, and especially when you are not in a relationship, Valentine's Day can be brutal, happy couples everywhere, where even dysfunctional couples feign happiness.)

We went to a really fun party. The idea was that everyone who attended would bring a poem, a song or a toast about love to share with the group. Here are some goodies from the party...don't they look fun?

It felt so special -- the house was decorated (we even had Valentine heart toilet paper in the bathroom!), fire roaring, people wearing red, delicious food, it was all so festive.

The first speech was the story about how one couple met. Then we had a poem, a song, lots of poems ranging from a poet from the Low Country to a 17th century metaphysical poet! One of the ladies wanted all of us gals to sing and dance to "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which we did.

Landon and I danced to the Bobby Darin song MORE, which was our wedding dance, while my computer faintly put out the music and the guests tried to sing along. Landon played the guitar and sang a song which, when he sings it to me, always makes me cry. (What he didn't tell the group was that he added a verse to the song, the last verse, which he wrote for me, while on an airplane taking him to meet up with me on our first public "date," which happened to be his sister's memorial service in Boston. Landon and I have had a lot of "loss" to navigate in our relationship, but it's only made us stronger.) It was down to the final guest -- the guys at the table were teasing the last person yet to speak saying, "Wow. That's a tough act to follow. What do you have?" That's when he spoke poignantly and openly about his relationship with his wife, speaking straight from the heart, which ended up being one of the most courageous and moving sharings of the evening.

My first Valentine's Day was a winner! The best part was spending the whole day with Landon -- we had a blast -- and culminating in that very special evening with very special people. I am grateful. And, I feel SO loved.