To My Valentines

To my Valentine of 15 years: I love the fact this day is nothing special to us.  I don't need a day to force me to show you show much I love you, but I appreciate a day that reminds me that I need to show you how much I love you every day of the year.  Here's to doing nothing and buying nothing...we've already got everything we need and so much more, love.

To my Valentine of 6 years: The love you stir in my soul almost daily is fierce, overpowering, and a little overwhelming at times.  I'd do anything and sacrifice everything for you.  I cannot fathom a world without your smile every day.

To my Valentine of 2 years (it's funny how the months have fallen to make this only our second Valentine's Day together): You've taken my heart and woven into every fiber of it. You've given me the rare gift of being able to share with words just how much you love and need me, and that's been such a humbling experience.  I feel so lucky and so unworthy to be able to love you as your mother.  You teach me such exquisite lessons in love and forgiveness and loyalty.

To my Valentine across the world: My love for you is painful, in the best way possible.  I miss you, I need you, and my heart breaks, quite literally, each morning that I wake up without getting to touch your sweet cheeks. My love for you is forcing me to be brave, patient, and trusting.  And it's also showing me how powerful love is; to love someone with such devotion that you've never met and have no biological connection or claim on is kind of love in its purest form: hopeful and unselfish.  It feels so good, even when it hurts.