Living: the ultimate team sport

The first Valentine’s Day without your loved one.

Posted on February 14, 2013 Updated on February 10, 2015

The First Times Without.

The above article recounts the personal feelings of a blogger who experienced his first Valentine’s Day without his wife who died on July 4, 2012.  For those of us not experiencing such a loss, we may too readily try to point out that this “holiday” is just a Hallmark greeting card day, or florists and chocolate manufactures making lots of money day.  It’s more than that – especially when so many memories are tied to the event.  Whenever a “first time without” comes around on the calendar, the dread leading up to that date can be very troublesome, as it was for this blogger.

I recently watched a show in which interior designer, Nate Berkus, said the following about the things we have in our lives:

The truth is – that things matter.  They have to because they’re what we live with and touch each and every day.

They represent what we’ve seen, who we’ve loved, and where we hope to go next.

They remind us of the good times and the rough patches and everything in between that’s made us who we are.

Events, celebrations, and the like provide the same type of life-shaping experiences.  That’s why today is far more than a commercial and financial windfall for the greeting card, floral, and chocolate industries.  Without someone with whom to celebrate the focus of this day, it becomes a non-day from which you can not escape.  Thank God for the memories, the photos, even the many things around the house that represent the touch and essence of our Valentine.