Today is Valentine’s Day !! A day to be loved and to show your love. In the happiest of observations it is more or less expected but the thought behind the gift is the most important factor. How do we showcase the love we have inside for someone?? No matter the choice of gift, the giver is the most important ingredient.

I’ve written before about “the Valentine’s Box” in our classroom as a lower grade student. When the day finally came we were treated to candy from some unknown source and the Valentine’s were delivered to our desk. It was such a thrilling time. Emotions in the young are strong and indulgent…….we accepted the cards and candy as the best part of Valentine’s Day.

Most people my age never saw their dad kiss their mother. During the end of the Great Depression there wasn’t much love around but whatever was shown between adults was definitely not public. My head was filled with romance like the movies dished out. Romance was never shown to me any other way.

All these years later I know love isn’t something we see……it’s something we feel. In any other matter we would be bankrupt giving away all we had to give…..but the funny thing about love is the more we give away, the more we have. Love is the link to every other human emotion.

I don’t know how it works but love continually wants out of our hearts. The ones who open the door find some came out but a lot more came in. Dip out as much as we can…….the heart is never empty. It’s akin to dipping water out of a boat with a hole in it…….out in the middle of the lake. Dip all we can, we simply cannot dip enough to overcome the water that wants to come in.

There are so many people who need love……even a smile can make someone’s day. Though the holiday is different from the way it used to be…..still……there are those who are hungry for a loving word, a kind act…..a helping hand. We find when we give it away we are the most blessed. How do we give love to those who have everything and how do we give love to those who have nothing?

The same way……….

Essentially Esther