Opening Hearts…Valentine’s Day is coming!

Christmas decorations are removed from the stores, and now as I head into any store I see hearts and more hearts.  Valentine’s Day is not too far away.  I remember as a young mother I used to wrap a present for each of our two children in beautiful wrapping and leave them on our buffet for several weeks before Valentine’s Day.  That was always fun.   Now they have children of their own and are establishing their own rituals.

Hearts decorating every store reminds me of the gift of opening one’s heart to another.  Recently my daughter-in-law and son were robbed and all of her jewelry was taken–including a wedding piece from Panama, some heirlooms from her side of the family, and other pieces our son had given her.  When one of my friends found out about the robbery, she packed up a number of pieces of jewelry and sent them to Nichole, our daughter-in-law.  When she opened the package, she couldn’t hold back tears because some of the pieces sent seemed to have some connection to the jewelry she lost…something from Panama, the same stones as the heirloom piece had, etc.

I think at this time in our political history, it’s a sweet time to open our hearts to others.  Maybe during this time leading up to Valentine’s, each of us can find some specific way to open our hearts to someone else.  A kindness offers both connection and healing.