BE MY VALENTINE
I'm probably dating myself, but today I'm remembering the simpliciety, innocence and beauty of the Valentine's Days of my youth. When I was a student at St. Raphael School in East Meadow, NY, as Valentine's Day approached, I would ask my mom to buy me a box of Mickey Mouse Valentine cards - enough for every student in the class. No one was left out. In those days, your heart was bursting with so much love and you just wanted everyone to feel it - girl, boy, the girl you had a crush on, the kid who the day before had made fun of you, the best student, the worst student, the class clown, your best friend, your mortal enemy, the social butterfly, the one who you weren't really sure what their voice sounded like because they were so painfully shy. Why we (and I) ever stopped that, I'll never know. Maybe life became too busy to take the time to write out so many cards. Maybe we became too self-conscious to let people know how much they really mean to us. Maybe we became too cool, too politically correct to say "I love you." Maybe we became too vulnerable and afraid that our "I love you" wouldn't be returned. This year, I want to get back something that sadly was lost in the much too hyped state that we call "maturity." I want each of you to know just how special you are to me . . . just how much you mean to me . . . just how much your presense in my life has made a difference in mine. So today, please accept this Valentine from me. Yes, today, I want to say I LOVE YOU to each and every one of you. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.
"A bell is no bell till you ring it.
A song is no song till you sing it.
And love in your heart wasn't put there to stay.
Love isn't love till you give it away."
