I can't say that Georges and I are going to have the most romantic Valentine's Day this year. For one thing, we're not alone; le Garçon is with us this week, so no chance of a night out alone until the weekend (and we have a date planned for Les Mis already, of course!)
Today, the weather in Paris is absolutely dismal: it's cold, it's been raining non-stop, and all I really want to do is cocoon up at the house after having run around all afternoon with doctor appointments (me first, then the boy; and yes, everything is fine).
After perusing Facebook this morning, it seems that a lot of people I know are either boycotting V-Day altogether (even those who are in happy relationships), or are lamenting that they aren't being Super Mom and sending their kids to school with all sorts of home-made Martha-Stewart-esque red-pink-and-white treats.
I get the feeling that Cupid is taking a vacation this February 14th. Although hopefully he's NOT on that Carnival cruise ship that's stranded out in the Gulf of Mexico, because THERE'S a romance killer if I ever heard of one (no hot water or food, no flushable toilets, no air conditioning? If I wanted to experience THAT on a vacation I'd go trekking through the damn Amazon with a single backpack, bug spray and a malaria vaccine, instead of paying thousands of dollars for an ocean-side cabin with a private terrace, all-you-can-eat buffets and casino nights).
Culturally, I think the French are less obsessed with Valentine's Day than we Americans are. But then again, the French have not been brainwashed by Hallmark for decades, and they tend to be more moderate in general when observing all holidays whereas Americans seem to take everything to excess (bigger, faster and louder has got to be BETTER, right?) The French are more into love and romance on a regular basis, instead of trying to pack it all into one over-sexed holiday.
As such, Georges and I don't go nuts about Valentine's Day. For one thing, and I am being very sincere when I say this, pretty much EVERY day around here is "Love Day", in that every day, no matter what else is going on, we find ways to express our love for one another. So do we need another special day to remember how much we love each other, when we already have the anniversaries of our first date, of getting engaged, and of getting married?
Are we still as wildly nuts about each other as we were five years ago when "we" began? Well, yes and no. Yes, in the sense that I feel like I am even more in love with him now than I was in the beginning, and I think he'd say the same thing. Yes, in the sense that we are happy being together, and we are better together than apart. And perhaps no, in the sense that now our love feels more in control, a "given", instead of that wild, crazy rollercoaster ride it was when it all started. So we're still nuts about each other but I think the love has "settled in" and therefore it is a lot less wild and crazy.
And you know what? That's is SO okay with me. I feel blessed that I can talk about how much I love Georges and how great it feels to know that we have this incredible love between us when really, we are just two average people going through the ups and downs of our daily lives, like millions of other people. And I don't mind that the love has matured into something that looks a little different than it did in the beginning. I think it's SUPPOSED to be that way.
So on this 5th Valentine's Day with my beloved, my darling, my husband, my Georges: I do love you now more than when you first swept me off my feet. You are everything I ever wanted, and ever so much more. Thank you for the love you show me every day and in every way. Je t'aime.
