Oh sweet valentine.

It’s hard to wipe the smile off my face this Valentine’s Day for a number of reasons….

Reason 1. The kids at Tak P are in loo-loo land! Amongst the sea of boring blue uniforms are pinks and reds from the flowers, gifts, stickers, and candies the kids are happily holding. Oh to be young and in love and hormonal! I’ve even received some candies and stickers of my own from the kids. These kids may not know who Saint Valentine is but that’s not stopping them, and I doubt the 10pm curfew imposed by the National Police Chief on this Valentine’s Day won’t stop them either!

Reason 2. It’s a Tuesday. Tuesday’s we, as in the teachers, wear pink to school. I just LOVE the irony in that. It’s as if the whole world is working in cahoots! OK maybe not the whole world, just Thailand.

Reason 3. I’ve gotten some wonderful Valentines packages from friends and family in the states. My personal favorite being the heart from my niece Kayla, asking me to be her Valentine :O)

From my darling Kayla

Gift from my girlfriend Sara

Reason 4. A student gave me a Valentine! Rochelle gave her students the task of making Valentine’s cards for their favorite teacher. A boy named Joe in Mattayom 3, probably around age 14, gave me a beautiful card with a pink rose. How can I not be glowing right now? He isn’t even one of my students! So sweet and pretty, incredibly made!

Reason 5. I asked a student to be my Valentine- not the same student who gave me a Valentine. Although, I don’t know who he is or what he looks like but I made him a card. One of Rochelle’s students didn’t make a card. Instead, he wrote a sad letter about the pain he feels on Valentine’s Day because he has no girlfriend, no one to love, no one who thinks he is important. So I decided to write him a Valentine note telling him LOVE STINKS! No just kidding, I didn’t say that.

Valentine Card I made

Inside of my card

Obviously I believe in love, I have the perfect parents to make me believe in it which brings me to….

Reason 6. and THE ONLY REAL REASON I NEED TO SMILE ON VALENTINE’S DAY. My parents <3 Valentine’s Day is, and always will be, about my parents. 38 years ago my parents were married on this special day in the Philippines. 38 years ago my parents sealed a love I can only hope to experience. My parents are one of kind. They are the most giving people you will ever meet, kind and compassionate and they’ve built a type of love within our family that others wish for.

So, unlike most other young people in their twenties, I actually look forward to Valentine’s Day, because it’s a day dedicated entirely to my parents. It’s not about the flowers and candy, or that special someone- it’s about two special someones, my Neng and Pa, and the love they created and maintain year-in and year-out. It’s also about the love in my family, which without them, would cease to exist, as would all hope I have in true love. So thanks M and D for making me a believer of the mushy, the sappy, and the possibility of a real long lasting love. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

My stunning parents!

Check out some of the other cards Rochelle’s kids made. These kids could seriously put Hallmark out of business! :-O

Happy Valentine’s Day all!