Valentine's Day

Now’s the time of year again when the Florist’s shops are working overtime to take orders and send flowers to sweethearts , wives, and  you name it.
It makes your mind wander back to some other time, some other place. The one time I remember distinctly is the first Valentines day after Jim and I had been married for a little over two months. Guess what I got ! A box of Ayds candy. For those who don’t remember what that was, it was candy that was supposed to help you lose weight. I should have kicked him to the curb then because that should have given me an inkling of what my life with him was going to be like.
The sweetest gift, I have ever received is a little dog, with red ears, a red nose and a red ring around one eye. When you turn him on, the music to “Sugar pie, Honey bunch, You know that I love you, I can’t help myself, I love you and nobody else.” His ears start jumping up and down and he moves his little head in time to the music! I nearly had a fit ! I went to every apartment and showed and played it, for everyone of  the residents in our building. I have never seen such pleasure shown by all these old folks. Room no. 2 is a lady of 77 yrs. who has had one leg removed, is diabetic and also has a heart problem. She laughed until the tears came, and said that was the cutest thing she had ever seen.
The next apartment has a resident that keeps pretty much to herself. I’ve known her most of my life and she has always been a recluse, of sorts. But I have never seen such a smile when she saw that little dog and heard the music. She just took it in her arms and hugged it and told me she just loved it!
Then I stopped at my sister’s apartment. She hasn’t had much to smile about in the last year because of her illness and near death experience. But she was smiling when I left her, also! Everyone got such a kick out of my little Valentine present.
Then on to Libby’s apartment. She is my best friend, who is dying from C.O.P.D. She also, just doubled up with laughter.  Zeke, her dog made a dive for my doggie, because he loves stuffed animals. I had to grab it fast to keep him from getting it.
Older people get lonely!  I wish their children and friends would remember that.  Betty had a misunderstanding with her three children, so they very rarely come to see her. They don’t see the  falling tears that I see when I drop in on her. She sits by that window most of the time. Thankfully we have a beautiful Senior Center in Kings Mountain. We are so lucky that it is only a couple blocks from where our Senior Complex is. The  bus comes by here from there, to pick up anyone who wants to go, everyday!
My heart was full and running over when I returned to my apartment. Who would have thought a little stuffed dog that Victoria and Kevin sent to me on Valentines Day could have brought that much joy to so many?!
God uses people in all kinds of ways to bless His children. Betty’s children might not care about her, but God does! Who knows what kind of day each one of these people had or how lonely they had been! But God knew and He led my “munchkins”,  Kevin and Victoria, to that little dog. I got my special blessing by watching the faces of my neighbors as they watched a little stuffed dog do its ‘stuff”.
Victoria and Kevin both have a store on EBay, where they sell shirts. Victoria also sent me two beautiful Tee shirts. I get to wear them and show them off to my friends. I’m looking forward to visiting them before to long, and helping them build some flower beds.
Thanks kids, for allowing God to use you to bless a bunch of “old ladies”.  WE Love you!