Adelyn Zara - Romance Author

 Happy Valentine's Day!

     I don’t claim to have had fantastically romantic Valentine’s Days and as a romance writer I wonder why we have to have one day proclaimed as the day of love, but then again it might be important to give Someone a nudge to remind him (ahem) that you should acknowledge your beloved on February 14.

     Not that there have not been very romantic moments in my life.  More on them in a few.

     The single worst Valentine’s Day happened in my late twenties.  We’d decided to pack up our two little boys, drive three hours west of our Chicago home, and spend the weekend with my in-laws. Nothing wrong with that.  I enjoyed getting away from the daily grind, my husband got to ‘go home’, and the kids got to see the grandparents who did not live close by.

     Valentine’s Day must’ve been on a Friday that year. No cards, no flowers, no chocolates – nothing!  Not even a kiss with a “Happy Valentine’s Day, Lover.”  We drove to my husband’s small hometown with me virtually uncommunicative and the boys providing all the noise and commentary.

     And he could not seem to figure out why his otherwise chatty wife was quiet.

     Worse, we got there, got our bags and kids inside, and my mother-in-law directly asked me, “What did D get you for Valentine’s Day?”  When I answered, “Nothing” and proceeded to leave the room, D finally got it.  And it was his mother who laid into him about the need to acknowledge the love of his life on this particular day.

     I got a corsage for church two days later, and an apology.  And he has not forgotten Valentine’s Day since.

     Now, you need to know that there have been some really romantic moments with this same man.

     Like when we were looking through jewelry store glass, gazing at rings, and D was saying he didn’t know when he could buy me one, or when we could even get married, because we were so broke.  I was crying when he grabbed my hand and dragged me back to the car, took me to the best jewelry store ever, and sat with me for more than two hours while I tried on ring after ring after ring.

     Months later, he went back there. I couldn’t believe it when he told the same salesperson, “We’re here to pick out the diamond for her ring.” I turned, smashed my hands against his chest, rapidly saying, “No, we’re not!  We don’t even have a ring yet! We just looked –.”  The salesperson was smiling as he walked to get that ring and my fiancé spoke over me rambling,  saying, “I came back, put it on hold.”  Then I got to pick out my diamond!

     We were married at a time when couples did not spend exorbitant prices on engagement rings and young men didn’t plan – or tape – unique proposals. I loved the simple way he asked me to marry him and I loved my engagement ring’s solitaire diamond. 

     So, when we were married twenty years, separated by job change (he was at a new job in another state and the kids and I would drive in), he took me on a walk through downtown Chicago, to an unremarkable building with a badass bouncer at the front door who had to okay our elevator ride up to a jeweler’s store.

     He was ‘updating’ my engagement diamond (imagine jaw dropping here),buying me a bigger, better diamond. To this day, that mushy, romantic feeling (you know how it feels!) amazes me.

     Those are two of my personal romantic moments. I hope you’ve had more than a few and that your current Valentine’s Day is lovely!