Nope, Cupid can't do this.

Well ladies and gentlemen I must admit being in love is a beautiful thang. This weekend the wifey and I spent an evening away from the little ones in a plush downtown Portland hotel called The Nines. The discounted room was one of the few perks of a recession hitting the Northwest. As we left the hotel on Saturday we walked along the downtown streets to our car gazing all around the high buildings enjoying the winter sun. As we approached the public parking garage a white man in his mid 50's stopped and looked at us with a peculiar smile and said, "Happy Valentines Day". Now I was a little taken back for a host of reasons of which I will mention a few below.

• Most folks don't make eye contact with a bratha in the streets these days.
• Most folks don't initiate a conversation.
• Most folks don't go past the surface "Hi" or the smirk smile.

But this guy was different. He said, "Happy Valentines Day" and then proceeded to tell us how jealous he was of us. We laughed politely but he said again, " No I’m serious I'm wish I could have that" As we walked on I began to think how blessed I was to have my high school sweetheart, love of my life, mother of my kids, nurse of my complex and fragile soul, and best friend on my hip that day. It made me think in this world of over 6 billion people designed for relating how loneliness is an epidemic and how passionately committed relationships are a hot commodity. I was a rich man according to this guy as he saw the richness of our love towards each other without excessive public affection, cheesy red balloons, or red dyed carnations.

The take away for me without sounding preachy was to pause and kiss my squeeze (i.e. man or women) and to not take a life long companionship for granted, because it truly is a gem to be treasured and not a given to be slept on.