Cupid Finds His Targets
Johnny’s Issues
Don’t you just love love? Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and I consider it to be a day with the greatest cost/benefit ratio. The investment can be really small, and the upside can be, well, tremendous.
I wonder about how selective one should be with their Valentine’s Day wishes. Of course, as a child, I typically would have a box of generic valentine’s cards and toss them around the classroom to every female in sight. As a young single adult, I became much more selective but would still pass little cards out freely to the women in the office.
But what about when you are in a committed relationship? Who is fair game? Do you still include others within your immediate circle? What about Mom? She’s probably a special person in your life, but a Valentine’s Day recipient? Some of you will probably disagree, but being a purist at heart, I would say no, sorry Mom. No Valentine’s Day card for you. But rest assured you will be hearing from me on Mother’s Day!
When people talk about the “greatest love affairs” they typically will mention Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. I don’t know really if they provide a good example. Their relationship involved infidelity, broken homes, multiple divorces and re-marriages. Surely, there are better examples of love stories out there, particularly if you look closer to home and not to the glitz of Hollywood.
It is interesting to ask the couples you personally know, about how they met. My Grandfather, for instance, was originally courting my Great Aunt. This would’ve been during the Great Depression era. But then he met her younger sister and things took a turn for the worst in that relationship. Talk about great depression, I’m sure my Aunt was not too pleased. But then, time heals everything and they ultimately all lived very close to one another and grew old together -- a very happy ending.
A couple I know met each other while he was working as a bouncer and providing band security for a regionally popular musical act. It must’ve been his authoritative presence that attracted her to him. All things considered; I think it still is. I really enjoyed hearing about how they met, and seeing them together now, I realize that they were meant to be together.
Another couple I know had a very complex set of hurdles they had to overcome just to get their relationship off the ground. These included the fact that at least one of them was already involved in a relationship, albeit not a serious one. There was also a considerable distance between them, so they were not to be together, at least not in the beginning. Yet, over time they kept finding their way back to one another until a few years later, when they were finally able to make a go of it and were joined forever. Wow, what a story!
These are just a few personal examples. I encourage you during this Valentine’s Day season to ask your own paired friends and family how they met. Listening to their stories can be fascinating and make you appreciate this crazy little thing called love.
Johnny McNally is Grimes County’s Best Dressed Businessman advocating for Grimes County.