Celebrating Togetherness

Photo from degreed.com

This week, I celebrate togetherness leading up to Valentine's Day. 

This is a special time of year for me, a week to celebrate family love and friendship connections. During the days prior to the Valentine's Day holiday, traditions take prominence in my life. The house is decorated with antique and family memorabilia. Cards are purchased by family members for loved ones and ephemera is proudly displayed, signifying bygone years of card giving. In addition to the decorations, we cannot forget a special dinner topped off by a Valentine's Day cake. The celebration is special and often brings back fond memories.

Vintage Cupid doll

This year I was surprised by a lovely bouquet of red and white roses, carefully placed in my crystal vase by my husband and son. Surrounding the flowers were carefully chosen cards. While these were strategically placed in the kitchen, being in typically non-observant in the morning, I passed right by them until my husband called attention to the gifts. We had a good laugh over that. 

I surprised the two of them later in the day with a homemade cake. 

Roses give a spring-like touch to the winter landscape

Here is my Valentine's Day thought. 

Hark to hearts that adorn my rooms.

Hark to the cherubs singing their tunes.

Love to my family that makes me smile

and sweet memories that linger awhile.

Tribute to years of wedded ups - downs.

Patience in togetherness knows no bounds.

Peace and goodwill on Valentine's Day

for love I honor in a special way.

Listen to My Funny Valentine by Frank Sinatra, 
an oldie that my mother would have appreciated.

Besides all of the family goings on this week, I celebrated togetherness in a writing community with teachers new to Twitter. During a day long workshop on reflective writing, I led teachers through several exercises in which they created their one little word and an acrostic poem to accompany it, among other activities. A sample of the work that was shared on Twitter by the educators is below. 

Created by @ocscience

Created by @ocscience

Created by @hillarybrom

Created by @dlocova

Celebrating togetherness, whether it is personal or professional time, 
is a special part of my life.

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Now, follow the link to Ruth Ayres' Celebrate This Week site to hear how the community of bloggers celebrated their week leading up to Valentine's Day.