Wednesday,
February 14, 2001
VALENTINE'S DAY

My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean. . ..

In an office somewhere in the heart of Richardson, a woman is on the phone, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up. . .

*ring ring*

"Mmphello?"

"Hi, honey!"

"Hey -- hi, baby!"

"Whatcha doing?"

"Oh, I'm at work slogging through a pile of trouble reports -- they're probably sending us to Croyden this weekend to fix a switch. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Oh, by the way, happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day." The tiniest pause. "I did remember it's Valentine's Day, you know."

"Really?"

"Yes. Um, admittedly, I remembered it the moment I heard your voice. . ."

Which was my Valentine moment with Lyndon for the year. He's so cute.

And yes, I'm serious. Lyndon doesn't really go in for regimented days of love and passion -- he thinks it's more fun to have those anytime you like -- so we don't really observe Valentine's Day. Oh, he did bring me a V-Day bouquet of roses once, but that was more of a condolence for the nightmare I was going through at work rather than a token of the day.

The important thing is, he brings me flowers. I'm not going to comment on his rationale, okay? And he holds my hand in public, and hugs and kisses me to the point where people have asked us if we were newlyweds (or told us, in the middle of a grocery store, that it would never last. That was eight years ago, which tells you someting about that person's powers of prediction). All in all, I'd rather have that kind of affection every day than one blast of romance in the middle of February and genial indifference for the rest of the year.

Which, in a weirdly tangential way, reminds me of my favorite romantic moment with Lyndon. It happened when we were standing on a streetcorner waiting for the light to change. Across from us was a tall, elegantly beautiful young woman paired with an equally tall, handsome man, also waiting for the light. There was a casually arrogant air about them, as if they were slumming it by deigning to be on the same street with mere mortals.

Since we had the time, we did what came naturally when we have a few minutes -- kissed, cuddled, and other things of a generally romantic nature. Then the light changed, and we started to cross the street, passing the beautiful couple who were headed in the other direction.

Lyndon grinned when we were on the other side. "Did you see the look she gave us?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. Two pudgy, casually dressed thirtysomethings -- I could guess.

"Only at first. Then she saw us kissing, and that stopped her. Last I saw, she was looking at her boyfriend with this wistful expression that said, "Why doesn't he do that with me?"

I grinned and hugged him tighter. That was better than any flowers or candy in the world.

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