Matt and I don’t necessarily celebrate Valentine’s Day, I mean we don’t go out and do anything really. Restaurants and places are too busy. And this year it falls on a Friday, so Matt works. I do try to do a little something for the kids. I have little gifts that will be set out for them when they get home from school. I like to think of Valentine’s Day as just celebrating love in general. I feel secure in my marriage and we celebrate love every chance we get in many different ways. I feel loved every day, and I hope I make him feel loved every day. This week he showed love by helping with household duties. This week I worked at the hospital a lot, and he picked up some slack at home. That makes me feel loved. Supporting my goals, hobbies, every crazy idea I come up with – that makes me feel loved. I’ve been on a journey to live a healthier lifestyle so a box of chocolates would not make me feel loved right now! Haha 🙂

Growing up I experienced a major “love deficit” from my biological mother. I know it has changed my love language and how I feel loved. Maybe I didn’t get it right the first time, but I now have a partner that shows me love every day in the way I need to feel it.

My first marriage was not “bad.” Nothing “bad” happened, maybe that’s why we have an amicable divorce. Sean and I are truly good friends and coparent in a loving way. I was still very broken when I met Sean, and my needs in that marriage were more than he could handle. He didn’t understand my love language or my “love deficit,” and that was not his fault. Our marriage felt like we were just good friends. So, we just maintained that friendship and let go of the romantic ties. He’s great at showing love as a coparent, teaching our son respect for his mother, and great at showing love as a friend. I’m so thankful we have a healthy coparenting relationship for our son. I have no regrets because we have a handsome, intelligent, creative, caring, compassionate son from that relationship.

We all have a reason to celebrate love today, whether you’re married, single, or whatever your status is. Good friends that love on you, your kids that love you unconditionally, parents that have shown you love all your life, or substitute parents that showed love, or maybe you are focused on yourself, self-care and loving yourself right now – we all have some form of love to celebrate today.