Reflections on Love

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.

Today brings mixed emotions. On one hand, it's a great day to celebrate the love you have for your spouse, family, and friends. Whether you express your love through flowers, chocolates, hugs, kisses, or a warm smile, the important thing is to show it and mean it.

On the flip-side, Valentine's Day is a very sad day for me personally. You see, it was on this snowy day in 2007 that my Father lost his battle with cancer and passed away. I was there and I'll never forget it.

Unfortunately, Valentine's Day has taken on a new, dual meaning for me. One-half happiness and celebration of love in the here & now, and one-half melancholy reflection on the loss of a loving parent, a role model, a confidant, and a personal hero.

But on a positive note, I've learned that love carries on after death, and that it can be celebrated in remembrance of happy moments that have long since passed. When I think of "true love", I typically conjure this image in my mind's eye...

The love that my Father (Joe) had for my Mother (Patricia) represented, at least for me, the concept of "true love" in its purest form.

Perhaps then, it is appropriate that my Dad passed away on St. Valentine's Day. Maybe it was meant to be a way for us to understand that true love never dies and is not forgotten, it just moves to a different place, a place that we may no longer be able to reach out and touch, but which sticks deep down in the recesses of our soul.