Every Day is Valentine's Day

Tuesday evening my 20-year-old son, Luke, called. We'd been chatting a while when he said, "I'm not sure I like Valentine's Day."

"Why not?"

"It's just a day-long reminder that I don't have a girlfriend."

I laughed. "Oh, I don't know. I can look at it two ways. I like holidays that provide excuses to do nice things for people I love. But on the other hand, I don't need excuses to do nice things for people I love. Every day is a new opportunity to show affection."

I told Luke his dad had called earlier in the evening. He was out of town, so we couldn't spend Valentine's Day together, and he apologized for not doing any of the traditional Valentines-y things, like buying me flowers. But here's the deal. Last Sunday afternoon while I napped, he washed my car, filled it with gas, and aired up the tires. Then he went to the store, bought groceries, came home and prepared dinner. When I awoke and stumbled groggily into the kitchen, he shot me a pleased grin as he slipped a casserole in the oven.

When he apologized on Valentine's Day I reminded him of all he'd done for me on Sunday. "That's much more special to me than if you rushed by the florist on your way home and snatched a bouquet of flowers, merely from a sense of duty."

I love flowers as much as the next girl. And I'm a major fan of chocolate. But nothing thrills my heart more than a simple expression of devotion offered for no other reason than to see me smile.

Whether your Valentine's Day held romantic adventures or not, I hope you'll see every day as a chance to shower your beloveds with love in word and deed. We never need an excuse to say, "I love you."