Hometown Rankin - February & May 2015

Camille Anding
The Time Coin
How do I love thee, Valentine?
Let me count the ways . . .
You’ve taught me that love is extravagant.
My motherly instincts lean toward the
practical, the economical, or the affordable.
Thank you for showing and teaching me
that love must never have limitations. I’ve
forgotten those monthly bills that we always
managed to pay, but I still remember the candlelight dining on crisp,
white table linens and the occasional weekend trips we took on the
spur of the moment.
I love the way you love our children – your concern through colicky
nights, your investment in little league summer coaching, time spent
listening about college choices, and career and mate decisions. Their
pain has been yours; their joys, too. You’ve been a laughing dad, a
praying dad, and a dad who sheds tears. Our children will always bear
the impressions of those qualities. I love you for that!
I love you for being a “morning” person. It’s taken a while, but how
many wives can boast of a husband that wakes up smiling every morning
and can be at full speed the minute his feet hit the floor? Your playful,
magnetic personality still attracts friends just
like it attracted me the first time I met you
in college.
I love you for the addresses that we’ve
shared. The box-sized apartment we rented
as newlyweds had to have been the attempt of
a novice builder. We laughed about my ability
to shower while reaching through the shower
curtain and turning the bacon cooking on the stove. We dreamed dreams
in our waterfront home, raised babies in the trailer and grew teenagers
on our hilltop. At every address, you’ve shown me that the dimensions
or floor plan didn’t make the home. It was the love, joy and tears.
Valentines may grow old, but not their hearts. My heart laughs at
what the mirror sees because my heart is ageless. It still races like a
sixteen-year-old’s when I hear your footsteps coming through the door.
It’s oblivious to the wrinkles and graying hair because my heart
experiences continued springtime in the security of your love. It warms
in the rays of your smile. It celebrates in the companionship of today
and is enthusiastic about the time that our tomorrows hold.
How do I love thee, Valentine? Just watch my heart.
82 • February / March 2015