Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day was never a big holiday for Patrick and I. We wouldn't do much, but go out to dinner. It was a date night for us. He did always have flowers or something small waiting for me at the restaurant.
This past year, I told him I didn't need/want anything. We were short on money, as he had been laid off for 10 months. I told him he could just write a poem for me. But, in true Patrick fashion...he surprised me.
Valentine's Day 2010. I receive a call from Judy at the front desk that I had something downstairs. I quickly came down to see an arrangement of roses and an envelope for me. I raced upstairs to open it. It's a poem that Patrick wrote and it was perfect. He went to Sendik's to have the flower arrangement done and then he delivered the roses himself to surprise me.
This is the poem he wrote. In red is what it means:) Please read the poem first and then go back to read the red.
A Valentine Poem
A cold morn it was when I first caught glimpse of you.
Loud children in the background jumping and laughing –
and me hung over, stinking of booze... that was true.
Strong but soft you tried to play shy.
“Uncle Pat, Uncle Pat come play” Payton Mary cried.
Your brown hair & your brown eyes…you caught my eye lady…this is no lie.
(We were both invited to Payton's 5th Birthday party. Patrick had gone out the night before with Steve Johnson and he stank of booze the next day. Also, I don't have brown eyes, they are blue. But he is color blind.)
A strip club we visited and I saw whom you were - a friend, someone fearless, my future wife for sure.
(He came to my housewarming party in 2001. After most everyone left, it was me and the boys. They wanted to go to a strip club. I ended up going because I was locked out of the house and Jason and Brock had the keys. Patrick was the last one there with me and drove me there. We became friends.)
Sometimes I ‘m a poop, angry like a bear – but it’s you that puts me in place, it’s you that cares and that is always there.
Trips to Pennsylvania with detours to Michigan
(It was tradition to stop in Michigan to go to White Castle. When we went, we got lost. We always got lost when Patrick was driving.
His favorite movies were Star Wars and Lord of the rings. He liked to watch them on TV compared to the DVD's. He did watch them all the time!)
We’ve hit deer, strip poker’d with Brock and barfed Chinese – but the fun was doing all of it with you while listening to the Black Eyes Peas.
(On our way to see Aunt Jude and Uncle Bill in PA, he hit a deer with my new Jeep on the way.
When he lived in Madison, Goehler and I got drunk and played strip quarters. We wanted to see how drunk we could get before Patrick got home from work. When he returned, I was in a blanket and Brock in his boxers with the Black Eyed Peas playing at full blast. Patrick and I went and got dinner (Chinese) later and I puked in the parking lot.)
Back –aches, migraines and my lack of no butt. Us having food poisoning & with scratch-offs little to no luck –“What the Fuck?”
(Patrick and I got food poisoning and the flu at the same time. We knew if we could survive that together, we could survive anything.
We only bought scratch off lottery tickets during Christmas and we never won.)
The porn channel on our honeymoon.
Our wedding song - the greatest-ever Pearl Jam tune.
The sweet sound of Given To Fly.
The picture of you blowing…the one that made me cry.
(On our Honeymoon in Punta Cana, a porn channel appeared half way thru our vacation out of no where.
On our wedding day in Patrick's card, I gave him a picture of me blowing him a kiss. It made him cry.)
“Honey” is our nickname, our summoning for one another.
Used mostly for love but also when we fight, yell or bicker.
My wife – I love you more than you will ever see.
There is no other person like you who allows me to be me.
I may not know how to whisper and I may yawn too loud.
I also don’t turn on my side after being poked while I snore.
(Patrick had a hard time whispering. He would talk softer, but it was still loud.
His yawns would be loud that they would sometimes scare me.
He snored all the time. I used to hit him in the middle of the night, but then after a while I just gave him a soft poke and it usually worked.)
Just know that I will love you forever more.
Happy Valentine’s Day
Love Always,
Your husband
Video of Olivia laughing.
Is there anything better than the sound of a baby's laugh?
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