A Family Kind of Valentine's

Not surprisingly, somewhere along these eighteen years, Valentine's Day changed from a lover's holiday to a family day in our house. I think it may have had something to do with the birth of a certain ten year old girl. It's different, and, in some ways, better. The charged expectations are gone, replaced with something softer and easier, something comforting.

This morning Ron drove Chloe to school so I could have an hour alone at home before work...I slipped little Valentine gifts into gift bags, made heart stickered tags, tied ribbons, set our dinner table and spread the felt heart confetti we reuse every year. At some point in all of this domesticity I realized that I felt really happy, that I was smiling, and content and relaxed. Just that little bit of time made all the difference in my day.

One of our actors delivered cookies and thank yous to Cast Images today, and I got to watch Jessica so joyous when she had a personal flower delivery from her special someone. Very sweet to see them enjoying their relationship, and also sweet to not feel envious. I was looking forward to coming home to our spaghetti dinner, to our little gifts to each other, to my daughter's smiles.

After way too much spaghetti, topped with my mom's famous sauce, followed by coconut cupcakes with blueberries, we're laughing at Impractical Jokers on TV while Kayla snoozes on the floor. The shelf is filled with pink and red cards. There are daffodils on the windowsill, a vase of flowers on the counter, truffles in the pantry.

Not the romantic Valentine's Day of younger years, but just perfect for this stage, this time, this day.

I hope your Valentine's Day was lovely too.