My Valentine Stand-In

 

Today I celebrated Valentine's Day with my Valentine Stand-In.  S. is a good friend of both myself and my husband and I adore his wife, L.  I requested that S be my stand-in today since my regularly scheduled Valentine is on another business trip. He graciously agreed.

We have known S & L ever since we moved to College Town. When we all attended a get-together to form a dinner club S & L knew they were in the right place when Mr. Y lamented his wish that this not be a high fluten' gourmet club with finger food but a gathering where he was going to be fed good ol' meat and potatoes. We have traveled on week-long vacations with S&L and always come home with memories of great times, wonderful food, and shared belly laughs.

S is an organizer. Last year Mr. Y decided it would be FUN to bicycle 120 miles over three mountain passes in one day. S had custom t-shirts made, designed signs, and organized our tifosi (fancy word for groupies) for the big day. Mr Y was cow belled, whooped at, and encouraged to complete a ride that defeated him the year before. It was a fantastic day in large part to S's efforts.

S. is second from the left

Shortly after that trip S & L flew to Italy for what was suppose to be a dream vacation. On the first morning S stood atop a terraced wall to take sunrise pictures, lost his footing, fell and altered his life course forever. S broke his back which required emergency surgery. He has gone from no mobility to a wheelchair to crutches and is now down to one crutch. It has been an amazing progression to watch. He is an inspiration to everyone around him. Rehab requires traveling a total of two hours, five days a week which requires many volunteers.

I signed up for the Valentine's Day drive. It is a pleasure to spend time with S. He is always positive and caring. He had home made chocolate candies waiting when I arrived at the door for the morning drive and gave me the rose he was given in rehab for the drive home. It looked perfect plunked into my Starbucks mug. It's really nice to have a Valentine's Day Stand-In.

PS Okay, kudos to Mr Y. He gave me some lovely smelling perfume gifts before he left on his trip yesterday. Considering he has no sense of smell and derives no aromatic benefits I especially love him for that.