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Tuesday, February 14, 2006
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it was a day like any other.
... except that we watched March of the Penguins and I cried like an absolute banana cake.
... and I made a deliriously good dish of fettucine with a lemon-shrimp alfredo.
... and we saw Canada make the podium in some Olympic events.
... and we drank coffee sitting on a park bench under the stars -- stars! Which means NO CLOUDS.
... and I got a lovely blue mug.
... and Catherine learned something new about chickens.
... and we saw a floating, light-covered phallus.
... and I left my window open so my room was chilly.
... and I lit a green tea candle.
Yep, just like any other day.
10:57:18 PM 
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36 years is a long time.
Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad.
You are the most uncheesy couple I know... with the most abundantly cheesy wedding date.
I love you both so much that I ache if I think you are anything less than happy. Fortunately, you make each other happy, saving me a lifetime of ache.
Thank you for showing me how to love in a lasting, unconditional, fierce, devoted way. Thank you for teaching me to respect and encourage the people I care about.
Thank you for teaching me how to argue and how to make up.
Thank you for being best friends, and for being two of my best friends.
Thank you for being my mom and dad first.
May your lives be filled with long drives down the country roads you love, seaside towns where you can take pictures of sunsets and find treasures in odd shops and galleries, music to harmonize to, and hours and hours with one another, far removed from any pressure or worries.
I hope that, 30 years from now, you are still bemoaning that your wife wears too much black, making fun of your husband for eating too much chocolate, nudging your wife awake to see the end of the DVD, and cutting your husband's hair, just the way he likes it.
And may my own relationship have half the beauty that yours possesses on the worst of days, whenever I manage to talk some poor sap into making a go of it.
You are a hard act to follow. But I've always been one for a challenge.
I love you both.
You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by
And when two lovers woo
They still say: "i love you"
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by
Moonlight and love songs - never out of date
Hearts full of passion - jealousy and hate
Woman needs man - and man must have his mate
That no one can deny
It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by
12:49:56 AM
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hearts and flowers and am radio.
I can remember travelling in the Lower Mainland in our family car, years and years ago -- more than twenty, even, which seems like an absurd length of time.
We listened to KOMO Radio out of Seattle, back when it was cheesy pop and adult contemporary music. At least that's how I remember it. And one of the songs I remember most was this one by the band America:
Every day I sit beside you
On the bus to Madison Avenue
Work in the big gray store
With the revolving doors
You don't even know my name
I guess that I'm to blame
Don't know the right things to say
So I pretend away
That I'm Rudolph Valentino
Pull up in my limousine
Oh, won't you come in out of the rain
Things'll never be the same
And then just like Greta Garbo
You stare like there's no tomorrow
And you'll know what I'm thinking of
Right before your eyes I fall in love with you
I can recall singing out those lyrics without really being certain of who those people were, and certainly before I had any idea of unrequited love. When I hear it now, I'm struck by how totally cheesy it is -- but nonetheless, it makes me smile, even as I cringe.
Just like today.
"Ruuuuudolph Valentinooooooooo...."
This day, this Hallmarkian/historical/hysterical occasion designed to work out brilliantly for some and horribly for others, it's a funny thing. It's a funny thing, because the best Valentine's Days that I've had were spent with friends having a great time that had nothing to do with romance. It's rarely ever been a bad day at all.
The only dubious moments were when I had some sort of expectation of someone else, either because they'd promised or hinted at some sort of a plan, or because it just seemed inevitable that something might occur. And it rarely turned out the way that they intended, and then things were awkward, and... ecchhhh.
I'm not much of a stickler for holidays and anniversaries and the typicalities of Western lovin'. Passion over contrivance, I say! Laughter over hackneyed verse! Less carnations... more fun!
When you get right down to it, I tend to like spontaneous gestures that don't require giftwrap or Hallmark reminders or sociological pressure.
I don't like long-stemmed roses in tissue (maybe a handful of lilacs or a jar full of peonies in summer, though), or super-rich chocolates (maybe a bag of Oreos?), or stuffed animals (I can't think of when I'd want that...), or the idea of someone spending half of his salary on a trinket or some absurd meal at an over-the-top restaurant. Or me doing the same.
I don't enjoy the idea that there is a way I have to be or dress or a way he has to be or dress or a place we have to go or things we have to exchange or words we're supposed to say or a way things are supposed to go.
I like to operate outside the heart-shaped box.
Still...
I also like to hear my girlfriends bubble about the things they got. I love to sing the cheesy songs at the top of my lungs. I love all the red and pink and white and girlish falderal. I love the idea of effort.
I just wish people put in the effort as often as they could, and without the consumeristic reminder.
Happy Valentine's Day to Nancy and Norman, Dick and Emma, Chuck and Julie, Liz and Anders, Fubsy and "the boy", Dr.O and Els, Phil and Mrs. P, Rich and Martha, Mark and Katherine, Scott and Laura, Karen and Paul, and all the rest of you who have spouses/significant others whose names I do not know.
May you feel loved beyond what even seems reasonable. And not because someone threw a holiday, but because you just are.
And to all my fellow single folks, doing your thing with a smile, you guys kick ass, too. A giant platonic Valentine with an extra side of goofball laughter to every one of you.
Again, not because someone threw a holiday, but just because you make my life a richer thing.
And I think I have a gummi heart in my pocket for you.
I've been carrying it around alllll day. It's nice and soft and... warm.
12:31:00 AM
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© Copyright
2006
Meg Fowler.
Last update:
3/4/06; 2:32:29 PM. |
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