Happy Valentine's Day

So many people complain about the commercialization of this "holiday." With the Valentine's Day cards going up at Hallmark the day after Christmas, it is easy to agree with that sentiment. However, I don't think it is such a bad thing to set aside a day when we make extra efforts to tell those around us that we love them and cherish them. Whether spouse, child, parents, family, or friends, it's never a bad thing to be reminded to tell them just one more time that you love them.
In honor of Valentine's Day, I've listed some great quotes about love. The first poem was from our wedding. I still think there is a lot of truth to it now, having been with Doug for 15 years this month.

The Art of Marriage by Wilferd A. Peterson

A good marriage must be created. In the art of marriage
The little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,
it should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,
but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.

It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.



Other great quotes about love:
Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction. -Saint-Exupery
To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. -Lao Tzu
We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh. -Agnes Repplier
We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person. -W. Somerset Maugham
The course of true love never did run smooth. -William Shakespeare
I have great hopes that we shall love each other all our lives as much as if we had never married at all. -Lord Byron
Lord, grant that I might not seek to be loved as to love. -St. Francis of Assisi
They do not love that do not show their love. -William Shakespeare
"Pooh, if you lived to be one hundred and one days old," said Piglet; I want to live to be one hundred so I don't have to live one day without you." -A.A. Milne

In honor and in celebration of those I love. A heartfelt Happy Valentine's Day.