a valentine (thanks carrot)

a carefully selected poem--yes, I do understand worm girl, dear Geo--in a hand-written note delivered via the not-yet-extinct U.S. Mail

running my fingers across hours-into-days worth of hand applique--perfect circles, slender stems, and painstakingly detailed pieces--while visiting my friends Donna and Fred

the way my 17-year-old son pleads-slash-demands I find "his" (not really--he-or-she-we-really-don't-know-which belongs to the next door neighbors) cat this morning as I drop him off for early morning seminary and how I appreciate people who surprise you by the things they deeply care about

finally connecting with a dear friend, realizing we have been needlessly struggling with our respective burdens alone when we could have been leaning on each other

the warmth of the sun on my face

contemplating this line from a movie: "Because I know who I am" and hoping that truth in my own life will give me the strength to bear hard and painful things