Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is a day full of love, flowers, cards and joy for most people. For some others it is a day full of sadness, defeat, hopelessness and loneliness. So many people see Valentine's Day as a holiday only for people in happy relationships. The truth is that Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate love, whether that be platonic or romantic love. 

I myself have found it hard to find the joys on Valentine's Day as a single woman. For many people it is hard to find the joys in a season of singleness and I understand that. This year I promised myself that no matter what, I would look around and see all the platonic love that surrounds me. Growing up I always woke up on Valentine's Morning to flowers, chocolates and a card from my Dad on the dining room table. I am so blessed with a Dad who shows me love not only on Valentine's Day but also every other day of the year.

I have been a little sad thinking about how this will be my first Valentine's Day away from home in my 19 years of life. My family has an annual 'I Love You' dinner to celebrate the love and joy that our family brings to each other. It is hard to watch my family gather without me and continue our traditions but I know that I am so fortunate to have a family that loves me unconditionally.

Although I didn't wake up to my Dad leaving things on the table for me, I woke up to a notification from the mail center saying that I had a package to pick up. After my morning classes I went to the mail center to pick up the package and turns out my Dad can still make Valentine's Day special for me while being 8 hours away from home. 

There is so much love to celebrate. The people I have met on campus have become like family to me in as little as 5 months. I know some of my friends were struggling with the thought of Valentine's Day this year and I wanted to be like my Dad and make it special for them too. Although I am not an artist in any way, I wanted to make my friends Valentine's cards and give them some chocolates. I spent the night before Valentine's Day making my close friends cards and drawing little designs on them. They aren't the cutest but it truly is the thought that counts. I also mailed my family cards as well! I will put pictures of some of the cards throughout this post.

Overall I just want people to know how loved they are on this Valentine's Day. I want people to know that we should show love to the people around us on all days, not just today. Life is so special and so very short, so show people love as often as you can. You never know what someone is going through and maybe a simple random act of kindness could make their entire week. Happy Valentine's Day everyone, I hope you know just how loved you are!