Today Was Valentine's Day

I'll be honest and say straight up that my husband and I don't really do anything for each other on Valentine's Day. I think we did for a couple of years right at the very start (like a lot of couples I guess) but now we don't. This is OK by both of us! And we have our wedding anniversary the following month so always make sure we do something together then, usually involving food. This has been my first year of working Valentine's Day as a florist, and it has been an eye opener! Firstly, so few people are romantic towards their partner  ...actually, as I was about to write how sour and un-romantic most of the people I approached seemed to be, I suppose I should realise that there are innumerable ways for couples to show their love for each other that doesn't involve flowers. Strange, but I suppose I must accept it as true. It's been difficult not to feel disheartened by the apparent lack of romance amongst the residents of this town, but I have been privileged to hear a little of a few couple's stories this year whilst collecting orders.

I got chatting with a local business man who told me that he and his wife decided together to put Valentine's Day aside each year as a special day for them. A day to get child-sitters in and go out for food and spend time just as they are, together. I couldn't tell you how long this couple will have been married for, or have been involved together romantically, but I imagine they must be beyond the first flush of romance. So the active decision to celebrate each other on Valentine's Day is so touching and, to me, something I admire.

Other things I've learnt from working through Valentine's Day are not particularly interesting except to myself (and even I'm bored by it). I will spare you. Except to say I have really enjoyed being part of expressing love and friendship between couples this year. What an honour.

If you don't want to read anything cheesy I suggest you don't read the quote I've written out underneath the photo. 

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."

From Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernières.

With much love to my husband today and tomorrow, and probably most days beyond.