On Valentines Day, I always think of my mom and dad.  They were married for over 58 years and while there were ups and downs, they were still deeply in love. Even now after all of the years since my dad has died, mom is still in love with him and misses him just as much as each day continues to pass. 

I remember a conversation with my father about 6 months before he died. He told me of the story of how he met mother, their first date and his recollection of those times. I knew the story. I had heard the story hundreds of times from my mother perspective. This was the first time dad ever spoke of it to me. It was a blind date and a date he almost didn’t go on, but he went along with his army buddy who was going a date with mother’s sister.  He related how beautiful he felt mother was and how he got “the better sister”, that she was the prettier and kinder one of the two.   After that date, dad decided he had to go back and see mother again and bummed a ride from the army base up to see her.

It was a such a sweet story/memory and a joy to hear it from his view.  All of the years had not dimmed it from his memory. He said he still felt lucky that she was chose him.  It was also obvious that he was still so in love with her….maybe even more.  

So on Valentines Day, along with a number of other times during the year, I recount that conversation and think just how lucky mother was to have someone who after 58 years still thought she was the cats meow.  How blessed we were to have parents who felt that they couldn’t have done any better than the spouse they chose…..