Celebrating Valentine’s Day Every Day

By Pat Stockett Johnston –

How a Retired Couple Celebrates Valentine’s Day All Year Long-

After being retired for several years, my husband and I realized we didn’t connect much during the day. Now our “I Love You Connect List” keeps us touching base and celebrating Valentine’s Day every day all year long. How does it work?

1. After being out and about alone, we seek each other out when we return home to catch up on phone calls, visitors, and progress reports on our current projects.

2. We open the mail together. It’s fun to laugh at funny stuff, plan bill payments, and even peruse a catalog together once in a while.

3. We joined a gym with the purpose of going three times a week for our workouts. During breakfast on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we set the time to leave for the gym. Our regular trips to the gym have increased, as well as our fitness.

4. We read the weekly movie reviews and mark a time to go see our choice every week.

5. Neither of us read through the Los Angeles Times newspaper every day. But we know what topics we both enjoy, so when I come across an article I think he’d appreciate, I point it out to him, and he does the same for me. It’s a small gesture that shows we care.

6. To ensure a regular date night, we buy season tickets to events in the area. Last year we enjoyed the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra concerts. This year we’re doing Saturday performances at the Glendale Centre Theatre. We like having season tickets because we mark the performance dates on our calendars and plan our weekly activities around them.

7. The LA Times Sunday edition often includes discount coupons for some of our favorite restaurants. We note the expiration date and save them in our coupon drawer. Those coupons encourage us to take time off from our daily activities for a full, one-hour, face-to-face lunch, with no clean-up required.

8. Our church has a group for those fifty-five and over called “Prime Timers.” We make the group’s activities a priority. We’ve gone places with the Prime Timers we would never visit on our own, such as the America ‘s Guide Dog Training School and the Yucaipa Oak Glen apple orchard and gift shop .

9. We decided to put the “touch” in touching base. At least once a day, I ruffle Gordon’s hair (what’s left of it), `or give him a neck rub, a hug, or even a kiss. He returns the favor. There’s nothing like a little “touch time” to put romance back on the front burner.

10. We continue to have morning devotions right after breakfast every day using quarterly devotional magazines or inspirational devotional books. Gordon reads and prays on the odd number days and I read and pray on the even number days.

Can I say that our days are no longer humdrum? Well, maybe not every day is full of pizzazz. But planning contact points throughout the day has enriched our relationship, brightened our marriage flame, and made every day a Valentine’s Day. All because of our “I Love You Connect List”.

Pat is a Southern Cal based freelance writer of articles, devotionals, and books; wife of Gordon; mother of Beverly, Keith, Joanne, and Craig; grandma to seven of the smartest kids around. I grow chrysanthemums for show competitions. Learn writing tips on her blog: http://patstockettjohnston.blogspot.com/.