Be My Valentine

     Roses are red.  Violets are blue.  Did you ever write a Valentine's Day poem like this?  I did too! 
     So we all have our expectations for this special day.  Be it an expectation of love, an expectation of surprises or an expectation of loneliness.  Emotions and imagination just seem to take over.
     Remember when we were kids?  It really seemed complicated to me.  First grade and a Valentine  mailbox made from a cornflake box covered in tin foil and paper doilies.  I'm sure the assignment was for the student to make their own Valentine mailbox but, just like mine, it was pretty obvious most if not all were made by our moms.  Anyway, we were to bring Valentines for each classmate and teacher.  So much pressure!
     By second grade I had the whole thing down.  I knew what I was doing and I was going to go the extra mile, making each Valentine card special.  Diligently I worked.  When I was finished and showed my work to my mom, she wasn't sure how to react.  I had written "I love you" on the back of each card instead of simply signing my name.  She warned me that there might just be a little boy or two who would take it the wrong way.  Oh my.  What had I done!  It was too late to replace the cards.  They had to be given just like they were.  I'm pretty sure there weren't any hearts broken that day but I knew not to do that again!  Boys had cooties and telling them I loved them was a really dumb thing to do.
     Fast forward to1997.  Little kids at home with Grandma and we were on our way to a Valentine's Day weekend away.  We actually didn't get to go until the 15th because of work, but it still counted as Valentine's Day anyway.  Boy was it strange driving away from our babies and knowing we wouldn't see them until late the next day.  But we actually got to talk as we drove instead of handing sippie cups back to kids and refereeing fights.   And then checking into a hotel with no kids.  Not the norm for us those days. 
     We rode the elevator up to our room and walked in, kinda surprised by the quietness.  There on the floor was a cute little red sequin in the shape of a heart.  Someone had obviously celebrated there the night before and the heart was left behind.  I picked it up and imagined who might have left it.  Was it on a ribbon perhaps?  One that decorated a vase of red roses?  Maybe it was one of hundreds that had been scattered around the room the night before.  However it got there, I took it home.  Putting a tiny bit of glue on the back, I attached it to our dresser mirror.  And that's where it stayed for almost 18 years.  A reminder of our special trip.
     Recently we got new bedroom furniture.  After the old mirror had been taken out to the garage I just felt like something was missing in our room.  I went out to the garage and peeled the little red heart from the mirror.  It's not attached to our new mirror yet but it is in our room!
     Fast forward one more time to this weekend.  Another trip away.  No kids.  As plans were being made I couldn't help but think of that little heart we had found.  I looked for hearts like it at various stores but didn't find anything even close.  However I did find some cute pink and red glittery hearts of various sizes.  So while decorating our room with them, I made a decision.  One would be left behind. 
     As we got ready to leave, I picked one small red glittery heart and placed it by the heart shaped jacuzzi.  Kinda hid it under some greenery.  And I imagined.  I imagined about the young couple who might honeymoon there this next weekend.  I thought about it catching the bride's eye.  She will lean over to pick it up and wonder who left it.  She will put it in her bag and take it home.  A special little heart that would remind them of their time there.  And I prayed for them.  For whoever finds it.  That it will be a reminder of their love for years to come.