Ted Did Well

I don't expect much on Valentines Day. Our lives are crazier now than they used to be. There was a time when Valentine's Day was a big occasion and we celebrated with a big meal out. We had to celebrate somehow!! We have enough date nights that I consider each one, kind of a Valentine's celebration. Still, it is nice to receive something on that day...I don't care if it's just a hand written note.

I remember getting many a written note from Ted when we worked at McDonald's together. He'd give me a Big Mac container and write "Your my Big Mac in the McDonald's of life" with a grease pencil. I still have love notes written on hamburger wrappings, notes written in highschool, notes written in college, birthday cards, Mother's Day cards, Valentine's cards...all with a special note inside. These are treasures to me.

We always write in cards that we give eachother, but we don't do much of the spontaneous notes anymore. And I'm not saying that to be sad, because any note I get from him now is backed by years of him proving his love for me. It's not a "crush" anymore. It's a deep, time-tested, got through the hard times kind of love. It's not the note that means so much to me as the day in, day out show of love. He's dedicated to our family. He's consistent, loyal, trustworthy and helps me immensely with the kids. This means more than a note. Still, I love to remember the lightheartedness of our McDonald's days of leaving surprise notes for each other to find.

This morning I had a flashback of our McDonald's days. As I went about my day, I was greeted by "love notes" in my regular visiting spots. When I opened the kitchen drawer (I just organized a couple of months ago) I found a note that said "Thanks for keeping us organized. I love you, Ted". As I went about my day, I noticed many others "Thanks for keeping Ben happy" on the VCR , "Thanks for brightening my day" behind my kitchen curtains, "Thanks for all you do-even changing diapers" in the wipes container, "Thanks for keeping the refrigerator stocked" in the lunchmeat drawer, "Thanks for taking care of yourself" in my make up drawer, "Hey Foxy!" in the shower, and "I love the way you are always trying to be a better person"on my 'Purpose Driven Life' book. With each note I got 2-4 Hershey's Chocolate Kisses with caramel in them.

Today I got many more notes to treasure. But more than the notes, I treasure the man who stays when the going gets tough, who faces his responsibilites, works every day, pays the bills, raises our kids, changes diapers, sets the table, fixes lunches, loves his kids and especially loves me!