When I was a teenager – probably around fifteen years old – my dad surprised me one Valentine’s Day with a box of chocolates.
I will never forget it. He shyly handed me a heart shaped box covered with yellow ribbons and roses. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. A variety of small chocolates filled the inside. At the time, they seemed exotic; I’d never received a gift like this before.
Most importantly, it was from my dad. Even though I thanked him profusely, I never could express how much it meant to me.
I took my time eating the chocolates, only allowing myself one a day until they were gone. But I kept the box well into my twenties. Dad died when I was twenty-one and though I reluctantly let go of the faded box years later, the sentiment stayed with me.
It still does and I carried on the tradition of the heart shaped box with my own children.
Last year I shopped a little late and the only boxes left had nasty chocolates inside. I whined to my husband about it and he said, “Don’t worry, they don’t care about that stuff anyway (ouch!). We’ll just give them a card with twenty bucks and call it a day.”
So we did and I was feeling okay about it until my daughter said, “Hey! Where’s my heart?” I threw my husband under the bus. “Daddy said you were too old for that.”
They were disappointed but my heart was filled with joy.
As soon as I saw the hearts on the shelves this year, I snatched some up and stuck them in the trunk of my car. My kids are reminding me daily not to forget again, and they won’t have to worry. I’ll be giving them chocolate hearts even when they’re married with families of their own.
Your turn: Do you celebrate this holiday? In what way do you make it special in your home?
And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17
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