My Valentine Treat

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your day was full of love- mine sure was, even though I have been sick since Friday. Pete gave me the beautiful tulips and my mom gave me the carnations you see in the picture above. The children have been so sweet with warm wishes, kisses and loving all day. They know I have been sick and have waited on me so sweetly. I love my family!

I was able to sleep in and when I awoke, Pete was making heart-shaped pancakes (we had our Saturday breakfast this morning instead). When I went to get some coffee, there was a bag of bird seed on the counter by the coffee pot. When I asked what it was doing there, the kids opened the front curtains, and...

...I was surprised by this! The new birdhouse on the left was hanging next to the other feeder we have been using since Pete got me the cardinal bird stand last year. We had so much fun watching all the birds try out their new gig. Even a beautiful woodpecker joined them, along with...

...my sweet cardinal to wish me "Happy Valentine's Day," too.

The Blink of an Eye

Valentine's Day is going to be a little difficult for me to get through this year. I'll be thinking of last year's V-day. Last year, on Valentine's Day, Mary came over to my house in the morning. I was baking cupcakes for one of the kid's parties. She sat at the kitchen table and watched me. We talked. Mary wanted this day to be the first day of a new beginning for her. She wanted to work real hard on some things she was trying to overcome, especially some eating issues and she wanted my help. I was her role model- she looked up to me because we had been through a lot of the same things. We made a pact that day. I gave her a calender and she was going to mark her progress. She was so excited. Her husband texted her and told her to get home, and I found out later he had hired someone to give her a massage- what a treat.

How can things get so turned around in a month? Mary left my house on Valentine's Day with some hope- hope that she could get past her mistakes, hope that she could overcome her problems, hope that her husband loved her, hope that her children needed her and hope that maybe one day she could teach again. But she lost all that hope in a blink of an eye. Mary had no hope when she shot herself. Things aren't always like they seem...

I hope Mary knows how much she meant to me, and how I valued our friendship. I will NEVER forget that!

Courage, Cardinals and Love

Here is a poem I wrote and I thought with Valentine's day coming up, I would post it. Have a love-filled week!


Courage, Cardinals and Love by Laurie Kolp

Red is the color of
Courage, Cardinals and love.

Courage to be brave and fight
even when you know things aren’t right.

Cardinals that faithfully appear
in times of sadness and great fear.

Love, a feeling so true
of acceptance and comfort the whole day through.

May your life be forever filled with red-
Courage, Cardinals and love, in the days ahead.