Valentine Ladies

What’s new with me? Not too much. It’s been snowing here-pretty much like everywhere else in the Midwest. We’ve had lots of snow days which don’t bother me at bit because it means my two teenagers will be home. We made it through another wrestling season and my son is now quietly eating me out of house and home. My daughter broke up with her boyfriend of two months, cried on a Saturday and now has someone else in mind. My husband has continued to do what he does…travel for his job. I’ve been spending the month working on revisions for a Harlequin that should be out about a year from now.

Actually, the best thing that happened recently didn’t even involve me at all, but I thought y’all might enjoy hearing about it. February brought forth our town’s newest Valentine Lady.

Yep, you read that right. At the end of January a Valentine Court is selected and on February 1st, an honorary Valentine Lady is chosen. It’s a big deal. The lady is someone who has usually lived in our town for quite some time and has contributed in countless amounts of ways over the years. This year’s Valentine Lady was actually someone I know…the mom of one of my neighbors. She’s also a cancer survivor, a tireless volunteer and an all-around thoughtful person.

You might ask, what does a Valentine Lady do? She stamps the annual town Valentine, of course! Yep, every year a local artist designs a new card. It’s sold for a dollar at most any local store, and after you fill it out, you can take it to the post office and either this year’s lady, one of her court, or a past Lady will stamp the envelope for you. The Valentine Lady also visits schools and nursing homes and gets honored at a Valentine breakfast on…you guessed it, Valentine’s Day. These ladies are truly beautiful women, inside and out. They wear red for these public events and lovely smiles. They must have a whole collection of red sweaters and blazers and cute heart necklaces.

As you can probably tell, I like everything about this whole process- a lot. I love that women are being honored for just being all around nice people who care. I love that there’s a table in the post office manned by these minor celebrities. I love that I got my Valentines and got them stamped just because I knew the lady and wanted to wish her well.

Valentine’s Day is over and all the hoopla that surrounded the day has come and gone. I imagine all the Valentine Ladies are probably still trying to recover from their very busy month. I’ve heard it’s hard work being a mini celebrity!

I, for one, will miss them. Every once in a while I think we all need a reason to take a deep breath and walk outside our lives…and celebrate the many people who just quietly do what needs to be done. Do any of you know a person like this? A person who’s thoughtful, caring, and usually under the radar?

Shelley