The Cupid Proxy

Ahhh, Valentines. *bubble hearts halo my head*

Sneer all you like, but if "Hallmark Holidays" weren't here to remind us to express our love and thoughts for others to those others, we'd likely take for granted the people who make us most happy. (Valentines Day reminds us lovers to take a pause to think about how fudged-up we'd be without our beloved other. What's so sucky about that?)

Ah, but Valentines for drivers on day v night schedules (and others like us). We've resorted to passing notes. Last night, I came home to a handmade card that assured me my Sweet Babboo loves me. And two roses from our front yard (yes, roses in Feb! It's not right, but it's tres romantic.)

This morning, he came home to a handmade card with one of those naughty IOU's.

Some lovers in days past sent a proxy to their heart's desire to tickle any embers that might be kindled. Our proxies were folded-in-half computer paper 'cards' decorated in ball-point pen. We're 40-something salt-of-the-earth types, my hubby and me. And I'll take our love affair over any Shakespearean pair any day.

To speak only of the driver's life for the moment, how do we keep the fire hot in a lifestyle that is 24-7 and (for some) spanning 48 contiguous states? ... Cupid proxies. Cell phones. Devotion despite absence. Letting the dogs sleep with us when the other is away in order to avoid the empty bed. Leaving our ghost in the house for the other to embrace when they arrive home.

An imperfect Valentines Day, but the gesture was there and the bond reaffirmed. And the dogs aren't complaining.