Happy Valentine's Day!

"Nana", he asked with watery eyes, a glowing nose and a croaky voice,

"I don't feel good. Will you go buy a box of candy for my girlfriend?" 

 WHAT?!  He's just a baby! 

 Taller than me, shoes the size of his dads, and a tenor voice. 

My first grand baby. 

Where did the years go?

Candy for his girlfriend?
Of course I will. 

 Then I tell him that I still have the box from my first box of valentine candy. 

 And not only do I have the box,

but the box has a lock of that sweetheart's hair in it. 

"Nana, that's just weird.  Don't tell Papa."

I'm pretty sure that long ago sweetheart didn't ask his grandmother to help him with the task. 

 I am also pretty sure that the candy came from the downtown drug store

 and that he had a chocolate malt at the ice cream counter the day he bought it. 

 That same sweetheart has been buying me chocolate and jewelry for 40 something years.

  Sometimes he brings me roses and honeysuckle blooms

from the yard for no occasion at all. 

 And yes, I still have that box and a lock of his hair. 

 Where did the years go? 

I'm also pretty sure that I won't be greeted at the North Dakota airport

with flowers and candy when I fly in tomorrow. 

I'll probably be glad for my warm coat and snow boots,

because I know that another day he'll come in with a little something special

 to let me know he still loves me. 

 

Happy Valentine's Day to my sweetheart!

 

If you have a sweetheart -

 Make every day Valentine's Day!