Happy Valentimes Day, Mommy, Luke said in his sleepy voice at 7:01 a.m. as he stood by our bed. Then he crawled across me to give David the same sweet greeting. After he wiggled his way in between us, I said to David, If I'm going to be disturbed at 7 a.m. on a Saturday, I can't think of a better way. Valentimes. I just love the way he says Valentimes. Lily used to say it the same way. And it started as Balentimes. But now he says the "V" and I know before long, he'll get the "n." Because time passes quickly, and with time, everything changes. Even Valentimes.
There was the Valentime 13 years ago, when David first told me he was in love with me.
And the Valentime 11 years ago, when as an engaged couple, we ate our dinner on the floor of David's newly leased apartment which would became "our" place 3 months later.
It wasn't too many years before the Valentime I was 7 1/2 months pregnant.
Followed by the Valentime I was 7 1/2 months pregnant.
And the next Valentime, with a not quite 1 year old, and a not quite 2 year old, and a not quite for any romance.
There was the first Valentime we bought those little cards and each of them scribbled indiscriminately on the fronts, backs, and envelopes with crayons...and then I proudly passed them out to friends and loved ones.
Then there was one Valentime when David took Lily shopping for my gift, and she picked out diamonds. That's my girl.
And the Valentime 3 years ago, in a two bedroom apartment, with two toddlers that each got two boxes of those little cards (that's a lot of Valentine cards), and rather than pass them out to friends, they played "mail" with each other for days. We had thin, perforated cards all over the place...and found them stashed in every drawer and cushion for weeks to follow.
And the next Valentime, when we filled out cards for preschool classmates and Lily could write her own name on each card.
Then the Valentime to follow, with two class lists and two school parties and two little hands tightly gripping markers and printing their own names.
It won't be long and the Valentime will come when Valentine has long since been pronounced correctly, and I'll no longer be the girl Luke can't wait to see. And Lily be the one getting diamonds. And there will be no one in the house filling out small, perforated cards. It'll just be me and my Valentine, and I will have lost count of how many years it's been since the Valentime he first told me he loved me. And maybe we'll celebrate our many years of Valentimes together by sleeping past 7 a.m.
There was the Valentime 13 years ago, when David first told me he was in love with me.
And the Valentime 11 years ago, when as an engaged couple, we ate our dinner on the floor of David's newly leased apartment which would became "our" place 3 months later.
It wasn't too many years before the Valentime I was 7 1/2 months pregnant.
Followed by the Valentime I was 7 1/2 months pregnant.
And the next Valentime, with a not quite 1 year old, and a not quite 2 year old, and a not quite for any romance.
There was the first Valentime we bought those little cards and each of them scribbled indiscriminately on the fronts, backs, and envelopes with crayons...and then I proudly passed them out to friends and loved ones.
Then there was one Valentime when David took Lily shopping for my gift, and she picked out diamonds. That's my girl.
And the Valentime 3 years ago, in a two bedroom apartment, with two toddlers that each got two boxes of those little cards (that's a lot of Valentine cards), and rather than pass them out to friends, they played "mail" with each other for days. We had thin, perforated cards all over the place...and found them stashed in every drawer and cushion for weeks to follow.
And the next Valentime, when we filled out cards for preschool classmates and Lily could write her own name on each card.
Then the Valentime to follow, with two class lists and two school parties and two little hands tightly gripping markers and printing their own names.
It won't be long and the Valentime will come when Valentine has long since been pronounced correctly, and I'll no longer be the girl Luke can't wait to see. And Lily be the one getting diamonds. And there will be no one in the house filling out small, perforated cards. It'll just be me and my Valentine, and I will have lost count of how many years it's been since the Valentime he first told me he loved me. And maybe we'll celebrate our many years of Valentimes together by sleeping past 7 a.m.
-
|
February 16, 2009 at 10:21 PM
What a tear jerker! Beautifully written, as usual...and so applicable to all of us with little ones. Time definitely goes too fast.