Moments That Last

The lights are low, the music plays softly in the background.  Room service arrives with a beautiful tray of crab cakes, a wonderful salad, and the most sinful chocolate cake imaginable.  Lovingly the man looks into the woman's eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to get you any flowers." 

"That's okay.  Just being here with you is enough for me," she quietlyy replies although secretly she would have loved some beautiful flowers.  Being together for right now is enough.  They sit quietly listening to the music and drinking in each other's company. 

Sounds like a page from a romance novel, doesn't it.  Yet, this scene was being played out in many rooms last night in MD Anderson hospital.  The hospital provided a dinner for Valentine's Day which was not only tasty, but artful.  You could almost forget you were in a hospital listening to the inspirational channel on the TV.  As I drove home, I tried to remember all the Valentine's we had spent together.  There have been 34 in all.  And, sad to say I can't recall where we went to dinner, if there were chocolates or flowers.  But, I do remember we spent them together.  Sometimes kids were under foot and sometimes a child would snuggle between us in bed.  But, we were always together.  In fact, that is one day we never missed being together.  No matter what state our marriage was in we were together. 

Valentine's Day has become so commercial.  Every jewelry store has a commercial or come on of some sort.  Restaurant's have special and wonderful menues.  And, we stand in line for hours to provide our loved one with the perfect meal or the perfect gift to make that one day so special.  To  let the other person know how truly loved they are, we spend countless dollars and hours to prove our love.  When, in fact, gifts per se don't really show love at all.  They are material things which can be bought and sold at will.  Shouldn't we look for other ways to show our feelings and be doing this on a daily basis? 

My husband apologizzed several times for ruining my day.  There were tears in his eyes when I jokingly said, "Well we didn't have any big plans now did we?" 

His reply was, "I was going to stop by the tent at Kroger on the way home to get you some flowers." 

"You can buy me flowers some other day.  We don't need a special day for flowers."  Then I realized that the flowers I remembered the most were those he would bring home on Friday evening just to say I know it's been a hard week.  And, the ones I put in the bedroom to suprise him for a date night which I might add was not even near Valentine's Day.  I remember how wonderful they smelled to this day.  And, I remembeer his face when he told me that no one had ever given him flowers before.  That's when I realized that this was the way it was supposed to be.  We need to make sure that the special person in our life knows it.  Life is not forever, and we never know how many Valentine's Days or birthdays or anniversaries there will be.  Grab each day.  Savor it for all it is worth.  Never let a day go by when your spouse, life partner, children or friends don't know how special they are to you.  Let them know that your life would be so different without them in it.  Hug them, kiss them,  hold them.  Don't be afraid to take someone by the hand and say, "I am so glad you are in my life.  You make every day better just by being here.  You matter to me."  These are the moments that last eternity.