my love

Alex and I have never really been into Valentine's Day. But when we were dating, Valentine's Day always managed to be full of drama and passion just from the nature of our relationship. Take for example, Valentine's Day ten years ago. Alex and I were suffering the pains of a long distance relationship. He had just quit a really great job in Atlanta and taken a much less exciting job in North Carolina to be closer to me. He was closer but still a few hours away from Chapel Hill where I was in college. And for this new job, he had to travel....(gasp).....on Valentine's Day. His flight left late in the evening for a conference that began the next day.

I walked him to the gate (back in a time when you could escort someone all the way to the gate) and there we said our tearful goodbyes. Parting in general was painful, but parting on Valentine's Day seemed especially brutal. We stood there hugging as long as possible; he was the last person to board the plane. I waved him off and then walked sullenly back to my car. It was dark. Possibly raining. I sat in my car wiping the tears away. Then there was a knock on my window. Just as he was getting on the plane, he had asked the airline attendant if he would have any problems getting on the morning flight. He ran through the airport hoping to catch me (back in a time before cell phones) before I drove away. And there he was. So we spent the evening together before he had to fly out the next morning.

Valentine's Day this year doesn't hold as much drama. No jumping off an airplane and running through an airport for a few extra hours together. Things are different now. We'll probably get takeout and cuddle on the couch watching a movie. And that's great by me.