Happy Valentine’s Day

On a perfectly clear September day,
In a year two more than ten away,

What fortune began as a beautiful glance,
Compelled you next to take a chance,

By doing something unbelievably hard,
handing me your business card.

“I’m flattered,” I said, ”But have to be straight.
I would love to go out, though I really should wait.

Things aren’t quite finished in a situation that’s through
And I‘d like that door closed, before I start something new.”

“Life’s too short,” you said, “to spend any sad.
Call me for coffee. I’m sure you’ll be glad.”

Of course I responded though not right away.
I waited for six and then added a day,

Before sending you flowers, fragrant and white,
Beautifully bloomed and aimed to excite.

I sent no note with the flowers simply because
That wasn’t the kind of guy that I was.

But you wrote one to me, which I got in the mail.
You were doing what I’d done; you were leaving a trail.

Another two weeks until we spoke on the phone,
Each of us pacing our bedroom alone.

Thirty short hours we chatted that week,
Until getting the chance to finally speak -

Face to face on our very first date
(Dinner and a flick capped a lingering wait).

You were so nervous, you shook like a leaf;
Drifting through evening in raw disbelief.

That night was perfect, a dream coming true.
You understood me and I understood you.

It was right then we knew, that our time should be spent,
Happy together in the highest percent.

The next year flew by in nearly a blur,
Deep in exploration of who each of us were.

Going to movies and talking all night -
Impossible to stop with conversation in flight.

By the falling of leaves we were living as one,
Still packing each night with impossible fun.

We read lots of books, played lots of games,
Ate lots of pasta and kept fanning our flames.

We lived just like that for another three years;
Feeling so certain, harboring no fears.

We bought a few hundred square feet and even payed cash,
By emptying out our reciprocal stash.

We fixed our place up and then we moved in,
Ready for the next phase of our lives to begin.

We weren’t home too long when delight and surprise -
In nine months we’d welcome a new set of eyes.

Summer came quickly. We altered your name,
Though everything else stayed exactly the same.

The next nine months glowed with a beautiful mood,
Considerable questions and plenty of food.

Then a couple of weeks into the new year,
Our brand new baby was finally here.

“It’s a beautiful ballerina!” the doctor had said.
She wore your giant eyes in her petite little head.

She was perfect we knew from that very first day.
Nothing could take our happy away.

We brought our babe home into a world that was new.
She had so much to learn, both of us too.

Every lesson we taught her, she sent one in return.
Sometimes we were soft, sometimes we were stern.

We kept our minds open and let ourselves grow.
We held no horizons in our desire to know.

We discovered so much and were ready for more;
Both eager to make a new face to adore.

He arrived like a miracle, on Father’s Day morn -
That day when our sensational Son Shine was born.

He looked just like his daddy – our beautiful son.
We were finally four and our family was done.

Instantly bold, he demanded his place,
Insistent he share in an equal embrace.

That next year was hard, the hardest we’d had,
Though not for a second was it ever bad.

With so much to juggle and not enough minutes per day,
All of our minutes felt faded away.

We needed a reset or new way of thinking.
Life is no fun when it feels like you’re sinking.

I took hold of your hand, you took hold of mine.
If we jumped together, we’d both be fine.

We ran around three years, then aimed for the sky.
We’ll never get going if we never try.

We rebooted our reset and shattered our ceiling.
Intuition and instinct, fueled by gut feeling.

We took a big risk. We hope it will pay,
But we cannot expect our tomorrow today.

Our family is tight, like the threads of a rope,
And our future is filled with meticulous hope.

Life has never felt fuller or shined quite so bright,
As we wait for the spark of our next phase to ignite.

I’ve never loved you more than this moment today.
You are my angel, Happy Valentine’s Day!

Writer Dad