Reflections: My "not so little" Valentines

Just as helium balloons soar into the heavens when you let go of their strings, so do my little valentines depart as I release them to grow up and choose valentines of their own….

OK! OK! This began way over the top but, I have to say, my life just entered another stage – abruptly. As I was heading home from work, my youngest son called and asked if he could withdraw some of his money. I asked, “What for?” He replied, “For Valentine’s Day.” Ah, of course, I thought with a mom’s heart. He always tries to round up money around Valentine’s Day to buy something for his favorite gal, “ME!” I played along with “Ah, you have a Valentine?” He said yes. I asked “Who?” knowing full well who the answer would be. It was then that he replied with an unfamiliar girl’s name!

My baby boy is fourteen. Of course he’s entitled to replace me with another Valentine. I pondered this all the way home. How was I feeling? It should be a time to celebrate, shouldn’t it? It has been over thirty years of receiving homemade valentines, single roses made from Kleenex, teddy bears and hearts in all shapes, colors, materials and sizes, my life has indeed changed FOREVER… or maybe not…… I arrived home.

My 19 year old son brought my attention to the beautiful bouquet of pink tulips sitting on the table. My eyes lit up and in my most appreciative mom voice I exclaimed, “They are beautiful honey!” My son must have sensed from my excited voice that the situation needed to be quickly corrected. He apologetically said to me, “Mom, I’m sorry. They aren’t for you.” “Oh, of course”, I replied really trying hard to make it sound as if I knew that to be true all along.

Reality is sinking in today that a chapter has ended and a new one has begun. No more writing out enough valentine cards in envelopes for the entire class, no chance of finding out at 9:00 PM on the 13th of February that your child volunteered to bring in 2 dozen cookies for the class party tomorrow, no more sitting on the floor after school with your child and listening to him read through the pile of valentine cards and seeing him blush at the mention of the girl’s names.