it had to be you

it had to be you. This was the last Valentine’s Day card I gave you. February 14, 2015.

This big pop up card reminded me of New York City – and you. How we loved that city. And when you opened the card, Harry Connick Jr. sang “It Had to be You”. That day and for the next week you would sing the song; not all the way thru because we all know you did not know the words to any song 100%. Once in a while you would hold me and dance while you sang it. I close my eyes and remember. A lot. The card does not play music anymore. But I still pop it open and put it on the bookshelf every February.

I would say that the two material things (besides our family) that meant the most to us and brought us immense joy, was picking out cards for each other (I leaned toward the cutesy and nostalgic, while you seemed to navigate to the naughtier side); and music. You had a wonderful voice and range from alto to tenor/bass. I could carry a tune (most of the time) and we never were on a drive or a concert without singing. It is hard to remember a day, except for the very end of your weeks, that the house did not have some sort of music playing, with one or both of us singing. When we first dated in high school, we were walking around downtown – because that is what you did on Saturday afternoon in Grand Junction; you walked around downtown from 7th and Main to 4th and Main. Of course we stopped in Woolworth’s and you bought a 45 (Google it, millennials) of the Four Tops singing their recent hit, Bernadette. You took a lot of pride in screaming that last “Bernadette” out of the blue and watching me jump. When you would call me Bernadette every once in a while, it always made me smile, remembering those early and oh, so innocent days of walking three blocks on Main Street, holding hands and just being together. To say that I miss those days is an understatement. My heart feels warm just thinking about them.

Happy Valentine’s Day to my forever one and only LOVE.