The One or The Dozen

The One or The Dozen

“I used to hope that you’d bring me flowers. Now I plant my own.” ~Rachel Wolchin

I fondly remember in elementary school every February, giving serious consideration to choosing the perfect package of a dozen Valentine’s Day cards to give to my classmates, occasionally making my own. I thoroughly delighted in writing a little note to everyone. (Except that mean boy. I only wrote “From Debbie” on his!) I carefully printed my classmates’ names on the envelope and proudly placed each one at the assigned desk when I got to school on the 14th.

Fast forward to that time when the job was to choose the perfect sentiment for the one Valentine. Heartfelt or funny or unique became the question rather than which box of identical cards. So many choices! And for the price charged now for a unique and beautiful card, one could have a dozen boxes of those elementary school cards!

If your relationship is in distress, or if your spouse has recently died, or if you’re actively in the middle of a divorce, Valentine’s Day is just hard. All the hearts everywhere make you want to stay at home for the weeks leading up to the 14th.

What Now?

What if instead of thinking about the absence of The One, you focused on The Dozen of people who love and support you and on whose shoulders you’ve cried? You might even return to that joy of choosing the perfect package of cards and writing a little note to that friend, sister, co-worker, neighbor or whoever has been that person who has cried with you, encouraged you, and been in your corner these last difficult months? Or even that person at the coffee shop or grocery store you can always count on to have a big ol’ smile for you, even though she didn’t even know what was going on in your life?

I sincerely wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day as you choose to focus on all those people who do truly love you.