Sweet Comic Valentine …
Wherever you may be … be warned.
I am a woman on the edge. I wax and wane on the topic of love and romance.
Alas, The Day of Love is upon us and I must do my part.
Love and romance …
And the mere possibility of finding them. The chance encounter … that fleeting glance across a crowded room … when eyes meet and fates mingle.
I’ve been thinking about you
And where you might be.
Late at night I see your face
In the light of the moon
Behind the clouds racing across the sky
In the early morning hours
I hear your voice.
The sounds of rain on the roof
The gentle swaying of leaves in the breeze
On the other hand …
Being in love is like a train wreck. You never know if you’ll walk away with all your body parts.
Romance is the most popular theme in much of the music we love … the hand that strokes the strings of our heart … the lilting melody that circles in our brain all day and makes us smile.
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return”
My ex was not such a funny guy. He spent most of his adult life with a grimace. Late in life he developed an aneurysm which required brain surgery. They drilled a hole in his head and he’s been smiling ever since. Go figure.
Excerpts from … Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman …
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me
As good belongs to you
I sing the body electric,
The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them
They will ot let me off till I go with them,
Respond to them,
And discorrupt them,
And charge them full with the charge of the soul
Love quote
Part of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s 43rd Sonnet …
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light
A bit of Gwendolyn Brooks’ To Be In Love …
To be in love
Is to touch with a lighter hand.
In yourself you stretch, you are well.
You look at things
Through his eyes.
A cardinal is red.
A sky is blue.
Suddenly you know he knows too.
Funny love quotes
My first love was Petie. He was a slight, wiry street kid with dark curls circling his round face and soft mink eyes that wrapped around me and kept me warm. I loved him unconditionally as much as a seven-year-old knows of love.
I have learned since that in that short time of innocence … a seven-year-old can know more of love than a seventeen-year-old … or a grown woman.
First love
He gave me my first sweet kiss. It tasted like strawberry ice cream.
He fought with and for me. He was my best friend.
I wish Pete and his wife of 45 years, his two girls and four granddaughters … a Happy Day of Love. I’d like to believe he thinks of me once in a while and that he told her about me … his first love … his first kiss.
And there you have it … my special comic Valentine to you. The two sides of my humorous/serious self … the reflection of all that is good and right and some of the flash backs of what might not be so good.
Love is not perfect and in that it is all it needs to be for anyone at any time. It takes the very best and worst of who we are and mixes it with strange exotic ingredients and becomes a delightful treat.
On this annual day of love … I’d like to know …
Are you with the one you love?
Do you remember your first love
Or your forever love with a smile?
fOIS In The City
Maxine graphic https://www.pinterest.com/IBJET0/maxines-valentine/
fOISinTheCity 
Florence,
I’ve loved Walt Whitman since I discovered his poetry/writing in high school, and my copy of Leaves of Grass has more dog-eared pages than regular ones.
Thanks for all the great poems in this post, and especially the part about your first love 😀
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Christi, I have a worn copy of Leaves of Grass that has been read so many times, it moans when I open the pages …
And poetry was my first love … in reading and in writing … and like Petie … I hold on to my firsts 🙂
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I should thank you for reminding me that Valentine’s Day is coming up because I forgot! Yes, I’m with a man who, when I met him in 1986, I actually said to myself, “He’s the guy I’m going to marry”, and we did, five years later. Sounds SO corny, but it’s true. It’s been an up and down road, as I know it usually is in marriages; but after all is said and done, we have a good marriage. He and I are close friends and though we don’t do much outside the home together due to kids and such, we know what’s going on in each other’s lives and communicate pretty well. Marriage is weird, for sure – a relationship like no other and certainly not what I expected. I think I’ve watched too many Lifetime movies!
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Patti, I applaud those who can make marriage work. And work it is. No, marriage is never what we expected it to be … but for some … it is worth the daily surprises.
Maybe we all watched too many Lifetime movies or read too many romance novels 🙂
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I enjoyed the quotes and the poems, Florence. I’m not really sure how I feel about Valentine’s Day. I’ve been married 35 years— three kids, two grandchildren, and I don’t know where the time has gone. I guess that’s a good sign. 🙂
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My brother is married 55 years and they never celebrated Valentine’s Day. I am divorced and during the seven years we were married, he got me dozens of things. So much for “stuff.”
Congrats on the long success of your marriage … and yes … time flies when we are having fun and that is certainly a good thing 🙂
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Hi, Florence! Reading about Petey was delightful. I didn’t have a young love and probably missed something fun. I have to tell you that when I was a single girl, I got a dear John letter on Valentine’s Day. Let me know and I’ll send you the story for a fun laugh. Happy V-day!
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Oh Vicki … I would love to read that story 🙂
My Peter was a wonderful kid and he grew up to be a better man. We talk now and then. I actually liked him better than the ex …
You are much better having Handsome in your life now. I like to think of the two of you sharing movie-mania 🙂
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I LOVED this! I used the 43rd Sonnet as my wedding vows . . . thankfully, we’re still happily married 17 years later 🙂 And yes, I fondly remember my first love. We’re still friends on Facebook & he’s happily married, too. Happy*Valentine’s*dAY, friend!! ❤ ❤ ❤
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Ah, Jamie … I love that poem. What perfect wedding vows. It’s nice to know that some folks can and do have long and wonderful marriages.
Happy Valentine to you are your true love 🙂
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Florence – After I put my like up I had to go searching for love songs and you know how a body can get lost in love songs – oh my. I hadn’t allowed myself to do that in a very long time. Talk about memories galore, thanks my friend for allowing me to go down memory lane all over again. You are a jewel in my friendship world. With love, Sheri
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Ah, Sheri … the day I started this post, I got lost on youtube with dozens of songs. Can’t beat a love song for taking us back to good memories or stirring up new ones. Ditto on our friendship my dear one 🙂
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And thanks so much for that song. I love that line … “after the loving …” 🙂
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What a great collage of wonderful (and irreverent) views on love. I had a Petie, too, but lost track of him when the aunts he used to visit moved away when I was in about 4th grade. We tried to run away together when we were about seven, but we couldn’t’ cross the street. to get to the bus stop. Tommy, his name was. Great post, Florence!
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Thanks, Anne. My Petie became a great husband and father and remains a great friend. Time and space can’t take that away. And the memory of him is something I cherish. BTW … that first kiss was in 2nd grade. Was I a baby-doll-slut or what?
Love the image of you and Tommy stopped short of the curb 🙂
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