I have always loved Valentine’s Day. Even without a boyfriend, I always valued my friends and swapped Valentine’s cards with them most years to celebrate that friendship. Sometimes we simply swapped “Happy Valentine’s Day” greetings and enjoyed the fact that we had those friendships. I still do enjoy and value my friends and love them.

Each of us found our lifetime husbands and have been blessed with long marriages and our families. We have each had our challenges to deal with; health issues, hard times to work through, and the ordinary things that come up in life. Each of us has been willing to stick to the vows we made to our spouses and work on things that required work. Enjoying successful relationships has been our reward. We are still thankful for our friendships with one another, and are blessed with working marriages.

A couple of years ago I wrote a post telling of Roy’s proposal to me so I won’t go into all of that again. That post is dated February 14, 2013, and the title is Valentine Proposal. I will say that he proposed just after midnight on Valentine’s Day while sitting by a fire in the den fireplace as the rest of my family slept. Roy didn’t have the ring yet but wanted to ask me on Valentine’s Day. This being a weekday night he didn’t know if he could come back after work that day, so he had come to see me on the 13th and stayed until it was the 14th to ask me. I still think that is about the most romantic way he could have done to ask me to marry him.

We picked out the engagement ring, that special symbol of our love, together. The one I chose just seemed to be “the one,” just as I knew Roy was and is “the one.” To this day thirty-five years later it still makes my heart do a little flip when it catches my eye. It’s not flashy; that’s not my personality. It’s simply the one for me. The circle of the ring is a reminder to me that our vows are not supposed to end. They are to be continually kept sacred and fulfilled. My ring is an encouragement that Roy and I will have one another “to love and to cherish for as long as we both shall live.” I love Roy more than I would ever think possible, and I am so thankful God made us for one another, and crossed our paths at Al’s Roller Rink all those years ago.

Have a very blessed Valentine’s weekend, friends.