Isn't it romantic?

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. And this time of year has always made me think of two things...spring...because April is getting really, really close...and romance. This year I have really been trying to think of something wonderfully romantic to surprise my Hubby with...

Hmmm...what would be romantic? Romance - at least to me - means the smell of roses and flickering candlelight and gleaming china plates and Frank Sinatra or Louis Armstrong or Rosemary Clooney playing softly in the background...and, of course, me in an ultra-femine dress...maybe something with a big, full skirt that is so full that it swooshes when I walk...and it would have to be black with just enough lace...and Hubby in a suit with no tie...And a meal that is elegant but easy...maybe quiche and cheese and chocolate covered strawberries...

But what really is "romantic?" Is it that scene in Sabrina where Humphrey Bogart is driving Audrey Hepburn and asking her to say things in French..."How do you say I have a yellow pencil?" ..."How do you say my brother has a yellow pencil?"..."How do you say my brother has a lovely girl?" ..."How do you say I wish that I were my brother?"

Or is it the scene in Casablanca, where Ingrid Bergman tells Humphrey Bogart, "Kiss me as if it were the last time."...all along knowing that they will be separated once he leaves Paris to escape the Germans because she won't really join him. Or maybe it's Rhett and Scarlett in burning Atlanta...'Kiss me, Scarlett. And know that you're sending a soldier to battle with a beautiful memory..."

No. Those things are beautiful...and entertaining. But that is not true romance. True romance is the time every evening when I hear Hubby's footsteps on the deck and my heart beats faster with happiness...no matter how tired I am. True romance is walking in the park pushing our little boy in his stroller. True romance is just living life with the man who captured my heart. Every day normal life. Not freaking out that he knows what I look like without foundation and blush. Knowing that he loves me enough to eat raw garlic on the top of his spaghetti without complaining. Holding hands when we pray together. Just the knowledge that until God calls one of us home, we will be together. And those are the moments I live for...when we are together.

Give me a kiss to build a dream on...

Hubby, every day that I wake up next to you and our little boy, I feel as if I am living that dream. I love you. Happy Valentine's.