The Gift of the Magi

One of my favorite stories at Christmas time is by O. Henry, The Gift of the Magi. I remember as a young girl reading this story with my mom. I even did a report on O. Henry and acted out the story, The Gift of the Magi for my class. In that reenactment, I used my grandfather's pocket watch and used a beautiful comb that my mother had (I believe it may have been my great grandmother's). 

On Sunday morning, I read the short story to my girls. We talked about the magi, making sacrifices for others, and true love. Now, in all honesty, this may sound somewhat sugary and sweet, but my girls did find parts of it a bit comical (especially when I began to shed a tear or two near the end!). But, I do think the end result of sharing this with my girls made a little impact on them.


Let me say that if you haven't read O. Henry's story, you should. And, if you have read it now is a great time to reread it. Finally, it is a great example of someone giving up what is most valuable to them for the love of another. And I think all children benefit from this lesson.

Here is an online copy of the story.

All You Need is Love

Yesterday we took our annual trek to the K & W cafeteria for our Valentine's Day dinner! The girls got all fancied up and off we went.

Lily ordered some of the yummiest onion rings ever!!! It took her awhile to get them, but they were well worth it.

Here's Shelly showing us her favorite food item...butter!!!!!

After the terrific dinner, we headed off to get dessert at Bruester's...delish!!!!

It was another great Valentine's dinner with our family of four at the cafeteria.


This morning we exchanged our Valentine's Day cards and special little gifts. Shelly received a red pendant necklace and Lily got a gold Love necklace.

Fun for little girls to get a piece of jewelry on Valentine's Day.


And, here is a little more love. The girls all piled on daddy.
 

Happy Day of Love to all!

Love story #4

The first time we kissed we were standing outside that bar on our way inside and I was beside his red Thunderbird. He came over to open the car door. We walked about three steps and then turned toward each other and kissed. At this point, a mere five hours had passed, but for some reason it felt like exactly the right thing to do. And, those strong arms were safely wrapped around me…just more validation that this felt right.

The next day (Friday) I thought about him a lot. His face passed through my mind a million times and I just couldn’t shake it. On a Friday night in Virginia Beach there is plenty for a single gal to do. For those of us who are social butterflies we tended to migrate to Duck-In and the beachfront party. For some reason this night, I wasn’t in the mood to go out and about and so I stayed home. At about 8:00 I was talking with my friend who had been the female part of the blind date set up. She was calling to find out about the evening after they had left. As we talked, the call waiting beep sounded and I hesitantly answered the call. It was him…Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome was on the other line. He asked if I had eaten dinner and I said…No!...of course, I had already downed my Healthy Choice frozen meal and wasn’t the least bit hungry. Then he said he’d be over and we could get some Mexican food at the restaurant up the street from my apartment. I was thrilled to hear his voice and I could hardly believe he was coming over.

He arrived looking equally as terrific as he had the night before. We spoke casually and easily and then headed to the Mexican restaurant. I ate a small amount and didn’t talk much. I was feeling a bit nervous and I knew why. I wanted to know if he had been to the Friday night social gathering at Duck-In. So, I bravely asked and his answer surprised me. “Yes, I went and was set up to meet a girl there, kind of a blind date thing. It didn’t work out and all I could think about was you.”

I thought, wow, what was the deal? Was he a serial blind dater????

Love Story #3

After hearing about this (hot) policeman, I decided I would gussy myself up and attend our blind date. I put on my cute little tan shorts that zipped up the back and a really cute black top that had skinny straps that criss crossed at the neck (outfits are very important to me). I slipped on my black tiny heeled shoes and turned to my cat, Misty, and told her to wish me luck. I believe she did with the swish of her tail.

I arrived at the restaurant at 7:00 on the dot and my friends (the couple who was setting us up) were there, as well. The only thing missing...the blind date policeman. We sat in a booth on the bar side. The couple sat across from me and I had my back to the door. My friend said, "Karol, I think that's him". I did a slight turn and saw this tall, tan, dark haired guy standing by the table. I really think that my jaw may have dropped, but I would never want to actually admit that!!! I scooted over in the booth and he sat next to me. We said a couple of polite hellos and such and then I went back to talking to my friend and he talked to the fella. Finally, I asked where he went to high school and when he graduated. I was so concerned he was about to tell me he graduated in 1990 or something in that range. But, to my delight, he said 1984...the same year I graduated from another local high school. We then realized that we had attended the same junior high school at the same time. And then from there, we discussed all of the people that we both knew. It was amazing how many people we had in common. It was beginning to be a very small world. After a couple of drinks, my friend and I excused ourselves and went to the restroom. When he stood up, I scanned his attire and well, his physique. He had on dark green shorts and a dark blue motorcycle police officer polo. It fit his arms perfectly and then I realized it...there were the strong arms I had mentioned a few months back!!! We proceeded to the restroom and my friend and I discussed all of his finer attributes...hot, hot, hot!!! Really he was a dreamboat and I was ready to sail away.

When we came back to the table, the boys were ready to move on to another venue. So, we dropped my car off at my cute little apartment and then piled into his Thunderbird. He was playing a U2 cd and I was impressed with his music choice. We continued to dinner where we chatted it up a bit more and discovered more similarities in our pasts. After dinner, we all chose another bar to hit. Once there, I was really falling for the dreamboat. But, I was ready to hang out with just him. We dropped off the other couple and then continued our night of fun at yet, another bar...this was the beginning of a wonderful relationship!!!

Love Story - Installment #2

So, after the nine year relationship ended I felt so completely free. I was free as a bird and ready to regain a bit of myself. I was having fun living in my little apartment with occassional dates here and there. I hadn't found anyone special, but I was really happy. I loved the freedom my life offered me. I could come and go as I pleased and I was making good decisions for me without thinking about someone else's plans. It was so liberating.

(A funny little aside here: about a month after breaking up with nine year guy, he called and offered to mail me a ring to marry him. This was his idea of a romantic proposal, I guess. Needless to say, I declined his generous offer!)

About this time, I was team teaching 5th grade with a friend. We had great times together. We'd take our 50 5th graders out for recess and discuss our lives while they ran around us screaming wildly. I would let her in on my dreams of meeting a guy with strong arms who would keep me safe and secure. We would laugh about my description, but deep inside I really was dreaming of this guy. I also had been praying/talking to God about this guy. I just wanted a good guy who lived in the same city and was fun.

My friend's husband was a policeman and he was on a mission to find a perfect match for me. He set me up on several dates that were flops. These guys just weren't what I was looking for. And, I felt like I really knew what I was looking for by now. My friend called on a Sunday to tell me about another potential suitor. All she knew about this one was that he was a policeman. So, I agreed to meet him for a blind date and my friend and her husband would be there, too. Our date was arranged for Thursday night. On Wednesday my friend called to say that she had met "the guy". He was working at a baseball game and she had a description for me: tall, motorcycle policeman, tan, tall black boots, cool sunglasses...and strong arms! I was intrigued.

A Love Story

Recently, I have become super consumed, obsessed, inspired, etc. by this blog. From reading her many entries I realized I needed (for myself mostly) to document my love story. Well, mine and Peaches (dh). This story may take awhile and so I will tell the tale in nice little chunks here and there (similar to my current blog idol).

For about 9 years, I had dated the same person. We met when I was 21 and I was very taken by him. As time went on, I became one of those girls who changes things about themselves to make a boy happy. I began to lose my identity and I was merely this person's girlfriend. It was a long nine years of thinking that I would one day marry this guy. We started dating when we were both living in Virginia Beach. Over time, he moved to South Carolina, Richmond, VA, North Carolina, California, and New Jersey. For 8 years and 9 months, we were always in different cities...long distance romance was difficult and underwhelming. I would never recommend it to anyone for longer than a week. During this time, I had some serious talks/prayers with God. I asked for an answer to my situation and hoped that he would put us in the same place and allow us to marry. Fortunately, my prayers went unanswered and in July of 1996, I broke off our relationship officially over the telephone with my sweet little Himalayan cat, Chardonnay, by my side. This was the final break up of several over that year. One particular break up had occurred when I was visiting him in San Francisco. I got off the plane on a Friday morning and by Saturday afternoon I was back on a plane heading across the country back to my home. Once my decision was official, I cried for about 4 minutes, snuggled with my cat, and turned the light off for one of my best night's sleep. The next morning, I filled my beach bag with my Cosmopolitan magazine, a towel, and sun tan lotion (minus the SPF). On my way to the beach I stopped and got my favorite Hardee's unsweetened iced tea with lemon. Meeting up with two of my girlfriends, I told them the big break up news and they could see the weight being lifted from my shoulders as I spoke. It was a good day.

Now, obviously this is not the love story. But, I promise it is coming and it gets better!