what it means

Love has multiple personalities. It's a bi-polar kind of emotion that never means only one thing. When we think of love we think of hearts and happiness and a hot man being perfect and ideal in every way, every day (don't act like you don't agree with me). 

But love can suck. Just - plain - suck. It can hurt, it can make you cry, and it can make you stain your pillows with mascara. Yet it always prevails. Always. When one thing let's you down, there is always something, someone on the other side to show you a new and greater kind of a affection.

We all express love in various ways. I have friends who express it through gifts while others show their love through hilarious and inappropriate text messages. While my brothers and I never really say "I love you", they show it in-between the punches to the arm and the name calling. My mom always signs her e-mails, letters, and cards with "Love you forever" and my dad ends our phone convos with "love ya Care". 

As I look on Facebook and see the screen covered with things that make me want to punch a wall, I know that my day will come when I get breakfast in bed, last minute roses from the grocery store, and chocolate hearts in a cardboard box from Walgreens. But for today, I choose to celebrate the kinds of love that are in my life. 

Monday night I had an early birthday dinner with my friends and I was so happy that my mom could join us. We shared stories, sipped our Sangrias, and I opened and read cards and presents that left me thinking: How did I get so lucky? The love that is friendships in my life that have taught me so much. That it's ok to show love in ways that I am comfortable with. I may not be able to grace my friends with gifts but I can grace them with laughs and coffee dates and aforementioned inappropriate text messages. 

I may not have a Valentine but I do have a cup of hot coffee, a roof over my head, and hair that is working in my favor so that's pretty much the same thing, right?