All You Need is Love

I've always loved Valentine's Day, I guess it's the hopeless romantic in me. Even if I wasn't in a relationship at the time, I still loved the holiday. I love reading about what other people do on Valentine's Day, how their significant other surprises them, and most especially, how they met. Something about Valentine's Day makes us all a little nostalgic and, it seems, we cannot wait to share with others how we met. That's what I have going on over at Multiples and More today, you can read about how Scott and I met, as well as some of the other couples in the community.

Since I already covered how Scott and I met on Multiples and More, I figured I would just write about love in general over here. I always had a great example of love growing up; my parents. They will be married 50 years this May, and they still do the most adorably romantic things for each other. For example, my MOM is in the hospital right now recovering from knee replacement surgery, but she packed the Valentine's Day card for my Dad in her bag so she could still give it to him on Valentine's Day. Inside the card my Dad gives to my MOM on their anniversary there is always a set of numbers that, to the average person may not mean anything at all, but to them mean a great deal. The inside of their anniversary card this year will read: 50-6-12. 50 years, 6 kids, 12 grandkids. (have you said "awe" yet?)

Pinterest is full of quotes on love, I'm pretty sure half of my "quotes" pinboard is full of them. I have two that always stick out to me, mainly because they were from the readings at our wedding. The first is from the book of Ruth:


The second one is from Corinthians and is pretty much a staple at weddings.

I actually have a cuff with this that I wear almost daily (thank you Dawn for suggesting it!). It's a great reminder to look at every day.

Love isn't easy, it's not supposed to be. My MOM always says the first 100 years of a marriage are the hardest. There is definitely some truth to this. Your first year together, while it is the "honeymoon" stage is full of adjustments. Mainly, finding yourself again as a spouse. Then you welcome kids and that's a whole new kind of adjustment. I think that was one of the hardest transitions Scott and I have had to make, but we persevered.

It's also important to remember that just because you may encounter difficult moments, it doesn't mean that you have lost the love. I remember a conversation I had with Jenna McCarthy (you need to read her book, for real, and it's JennA not JennY) and I told her, "It's not that I don't love him, it's just sometimes I don't like him". And there's nothing wrong with that, we are all allowed not to like each other at times, it doesn't change that deep down we still love each other. Yes, even when Scott leaves bottles with a sip of a drink left in the fridge, I still love him.

So today, even if you think it's just a Hallmark holiday, give the ones you love an extra hug, kiss, or both. Remember what it was that made you fall in love with them, whether it was love at first sight or love that grew and continues to grow over time. Take today to remember that all you need is love.