Front Porch Stories: Valentine’s Day Memories
By KATHY BOHANNON, Special to The Coweta Shopper
When I was in elementary school, Valentine’s Day was one of my absolute favorite times. It never failed that I had a crush on a boy in class, and I was desperate to get a Valentine from him, my love-of-the-week.
I couldn’t wait to make the box to hold the valentines. Mom got the supplies together and she and I began covering a shoebox with all sorts of festive things. Mom kept a stash of crepe paper, ribbons, bows, paper doilies, glue and sparkly things. We would sit at the kitchen table together and create a fabulous Valentine’s Day mailbox. It was hard to sleep the night before such a memorable event, but when sleep finally came, I dreamed of all the valentines that I would find in my beautiful box.
Sure enough, the next day our teacher had us line up in single file, each one clutching a stack of valentines, eager to distribute them among the many decorated boxes placed on the counter. Though the boys seemed less eager, the girls waited with starry eyes. I watched my love-of-the- week as he stuffed valentines in each box. I couldn’t wait to see which one he gave me. Maybe it would say, “Be mine”.
Finally, it was my turn to place my valentines in the boxes. I picked the one out that I had saved just for him. It had a cute puppy on it with hearts, and said, “Puppy love” and “Be mine”. I had signed it on the back with yet another heart beside my name. In the end, there was no special one from him, so he was removed from being my weekly infatuation.
Soon after Valentine’s Day I was paired up with a boy named Mack for a Virginia Reel dance, and we had to hold hands. He could dance. He was tall. And me? I was smitten.
Fast forward to 2003, and at 25 years of marriage to the love of my life, I entered a contest for a Savannah television station looking for the most romantic couple. In my winning essay, I shared not only how we connected in good times, but in hard times also. We were given a huge basket of specialty food and desserts, a big valentine’s bear and dinner plus a limo ride for an evening in Savannah. It was magical, and I was giddy with all that love in the air.
We are now retired and have embarked on our 49 th year of marriage. Our kids are grown with kids of their own, and we have five grandlittles to spoil. Our days are quiet, and when we reflect on the years of our marriage, the words survived and blessed come to mind. We survived all of the disagreements, hard times, and even a midnight fire that took all of our belongings. We survived a terrible season of a grandchild’s cancer. She is ten now, and we couldn’t be more grateful that she fought that horrible battle and won.
The blessings have been endless, and God has seen us through every step we have taken.
This Valentine’s Day has me remembering those first hours of marriage. When we were finally alone, the first thing we did was ask God to guide us. Guide us through whatever was to come, especially when we wouldn’t acknowledge Him in the moment.
Was it a match made in Heaven? Maybe. Or maybe, God knew my heart and gave me the best valentine, the one for life.
Kathy Bohannon is a freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
