BLAME IT ON VALENTINE'S

Is Love in the air?

Blame it on Valentine's or better yet, blame it on Covid, but I feel pretty.  Saying "I feel pretty" is not the same as "I am pretty."  I am a romantic at heart and could watch the movie "Pretty Woman" over and over, because Julia Roberts is stunning and beautiful. My favorite romantic movie is "Princess Bride" when Wesley replies to the princess, "As you wish."

This year for Valentine's Jack bought me some new jewelry. I surprised him with the gift he gave me. He smiled and said, "The pink fits you fine."  I smiled, too, and giggled. 

Along with the jewelry came the opportunity to dress up and apply a light level of makeup. Dress up? After two years of Covid. It felt exhilarating and the new jewelry lifted my spirits. 

The next day I wore another new piece of funky jewelry that my friend, Kathy Klopfenstein Hale created. She is also the creator of the stunning pink "light up my life" jewelry shown above. ByKatDesigns (click to go to the site)

One cold winter's day since Valentine's I sat down with my jewelry and began to play like a child with free time. I set aside different pieces and organized them by feelings or memories. Once again my heart felt lighter and I giggled with my discovery, like I'd found a hidden gold mine of fanciful feelings and  emotions. My Aunt Della wore the tiny Safire diamond as a ring when she was engaged, a long time ago. My friend Peggy took seashells that my mother collected and created a necklace of shells and woven beads. My friends Kathy and Cheryl once beaded necklaces of colorful stones. My daughter, my sister, and so many more friends who had bought me jewelry over the decades. 

Had those emotions been hidden by a mask for two years?

Had those feminine feelings of being attractive been masked by jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts of winter wear, or no where to go?

I left my jewelry on the bedspread for a few hours, while I pondered what to do. 

I went back to Kathy's Etsy (By Kat Designs)  site to try to figure out what happened to my psychic. This is what I discovered.

Had I bought this piece I might have felt charming when wearing it. 

This one said, I feel sassy. That made me laugh and think of a friend who could wear that piece quite well. 

This one filled with whimsy but beckoned a feeling funkiness. 

Like "touch magic" I felt the difference in how I looked at my jewelry. Instead of matching pieces of clothing, I saw it as a way to express my feelings. Had it always been that way? 

I must have felt puzzled when I bought this colorful fall leaf in during a spring festival. 

This is my 1968 pin I bought to show that I am different. I have no idea how I felt, but I recall not wanting to look like everyone else, and yet fit in. 

It's time to wear some of those old pieces filled with charm and delight. Wasn't there a song called Afternoon Delight by Starland Vocal Band? 

    Is there Love in the air?

When I read this quote on social media, I decided to use it as my mantra:

Wake up every morning, close a door, and keep the old woman out!

The lady I have been seeing in the mirror the last few years has been stuck inside too long. Her reflection in the mirror shows the lines of time. In this photo I took for the jewelry, I noticed something about my picture of rose red and pink jewels. 

Yes, there is an older woman standing there, looking at herself, looking at the mess behind her and around her, but this older woman is not old. Older than she ever thought possible when she bought that hippie pin, longer in the teeth, heavier on her feet, wider around the waist, yet brighter inside her heart. 

Now I have a plan, a way to close the door on that old woman. If it is not a yard day or cleaning house day, then this older woman will be wearing jewelry, new and old, feeling pretty, feeling sassy, feeling curious, and feeling happy and adventurous. I might even be singing to myself:

I feel pretty

Oh, so pretty

I feel pretty, and witty, and bright...

For I'm loved

By a pretty wonderful guy! 

Westside Story, 1961 I Feel Pretty 

Yes, there is Love in the air. 

Stories of Love

 

This is how we started, young and determined.

I've been thinking about "tapestries of life" this morning, it sounds much more articulate than scrap-booking. A weaver begins with a vision, a pattern, and thread by thread interlaces the colors to create the design, but a writer relies on words, words spoken from the heart.

1Corinthians 13:8.  LOVE never ends. LOVE is like the wind, it never subsides.  Without this LOVE that is patient and kind, like a mother’s love for her child, we have nothing.

When I searched my blog for the word of the month, Love, I found over a dozen previous stories that expressed love in words and pictures. Looking back I smiled, realizing that my life was filled with a tapestry of rich and royal hues (thank you Carole King).

Remember these from a grade school autograph book:

* Roses are red, Violets are blue, Pansies are lovely, just like you.

*Roses are red, Violets are blue, You have a nose like a B-52.

*You are 2 sweet
                2 be
                4 gotten

It has been seven years since I reflected on those grade school years and childhood love...Wardogs Pieces of Memories

It seems impossible to think of grade school days without seeing my mother in my life. She was there for every moment and now I cherish those simple days and acts of love I never recognized. As a PTA President off and on for decades my mother involved herself in every party, and Valentine's was a favorite. 

Somewhere in her 40's and 50's she found time to reflect and take college classes. She loved learning. How ironic that as I searched for words and thoughts about weaving and tapestry I found a poem by Corrie ten Boom, an author and woman my mother respected for her acts of love in saving Jewish people from the Nazi's in World War II.

"Life is but a Weaving"  

My life is but a weaving

Between my God and me.

I cannot choose the colors

He weaveth steadily. 

   by Corrie ten Boom         

I've been so fortunate to have family, friends, students, author's words, musicians, and acquaintances pass through my life.

 

"Love and time are the only two things in this world that cannot be bought, only spent."  --Gary Jennings

 

On. that fall morning in the parking lot outside the hospital, Sue reached in her trunk to pull out a basket of scrape booking materials. "Would you like some help with the basket?" I asked.  

"No, I'm fine today. Thank you." With a heavy breathe she continued, "I may not feel this good after the treatment today. The days get really long for me."  

My heart took a double beat with her heavy sigh. Here she was smiling and looking at the sunlight. With a joyous expression on her face and a glisten in her eyes, she looked around at the hospital complex, of concrete, bricks, and asphalt, and then the sky. "I love living. I love life Letty. I don't want to die."

I Love Living Sue's story will linger in my heart forever.

 

I can't resist a great love story. Dave Isay collected stories from Story Corp and published "All There Is." I cried and laughed as I read this book. Here is why...

The stories of love cover the ages, cultures, and circumstances of love. You can read about Hunny Reiken, 80, who talks with her husband Elliot Reiken, 86. Hunny speaks:  "I have a twin sister, Bunny.  And you have a twin brother, Danny.  When we met we were sixteen and a half, and we were waitresses in a hotel.  You and Danny were musicians in a band." The story of the two sets of twins marrying the same day brings a smile to the readers face but it is Hunny's reflection I like best, "When two people get married, they say two people become one.  No, I don't agree.  Two people should remain two people and walk side by side.  I've not become Elliot.  Elliot has not become Hunny.  We remain Hunny and Elliot.  And to me, that's important." Elliot responds, "You made my life complete.  And I hope we'll go on for another fifty years."  Hunny, "I'll take five good ones.  Five good ones, and I'll say, 'Thank you, God!'"

Love Stories and Story Corp

Jack and I began our marriage with three preteens, a lot of love in our hearts, and a small house . Michael, Katy, and Matthew are grown, gone from home, healthy, and busy with their lives. Love, devotion, support of each other, consistency, and adventures together as a family kept our love alive and provided a home for our children. 

We are now two, and a dog, always a dog. Before Murphy Doodle, there was Lucy, and before Lucy there was Woofer. We loved them and they loved us. However, Lucy is the only one who has sent me a Valentine card. Puppy Dog LOVE

Happy Valentine's to all and may love lift your spirits today.