Posted on Feb 11, 2021 in
On the Porch with Patti
On the porch at Valentine’s Day central – L C Floral Designs in Richmond. Gentlemen, holler at Lucas to make sure your Valentine’s Day is sweet! lcfloraldesignsshoppe.com
By Patti Parish-Kaminski, Publisher
It’s Valentine’s Day this week – the official day when we celebrate the ones we love. I have to confess I have mixed emotions about the entire concept of Valentine’s Day. Now I love a good Valentine gift – don’t get me wrong and certainly do not give Tim Kaminski the idea that he can show up on said day with no goodies. I said I have mixed emotions; I did not say I was crazy.
Here’s the rub for me: I am fortunate to love a lot of people, and I convey my love to them frequently. It probably annoys some of my people, but it’s just in my DNA to express love. I’m just not real certain why we only devote one day a year to expressing our love to our people. Doesn’t seem equitable to me, but love has so many forms and incantations, it prompted me to really delve into the true meaning of the word “love.”
As a society, we are in love with love. We all want to be “in love” and “loved.” I believe it’s a natural state. We covet the concept, the feeling, and we use the word liberally to describe many things because the word “love” truly means different things to different folks. The dictionary says love is “intense emotional reaction to something.” Well, I have displayed intense emotional reactions to many things in my life – just ask Mr. Kaminski – and let’s just say the majority of them have not been about love.
The Bible tells us love is patient, love is kind, love always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres. It says “Love never fails.” I like that. There are no guarantees in this life and here is God giving us a guarantee on love. That works for me.
I must confess, however, that love has led to the two most challenging jobs I have ever had in my life: wife and mother. Neither role is for the faint of heart. I’ve had friends over the years share with me how perfect their marriage, husbands and children were. Really? And yes, I felt obligated to tell them clearly that if all of those situations were perfect in their lives, something was wrong. Love is messy, love is work, love is hard; it is not perfection. If it were perfect and easy, I feel God would have mentioned that.
The things that we work the very hardest to achieve are always the most rewarding. Guess that’s why this wife and mother thing has worked out for me – years of constant, brutal, unrelenting effort – all in the name of love. I wouldn’t trade a moment of it.
See y’all next week on the porch!
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