Happy Valentine's Day

This picture has been named one of the most iconic kisses in history. I just love this picture. Always have. Because of the era, it reminds me of my grandparents. I wonder if that's how my grandfather kissed my grandmother after WWII. Because of the military uniform, it reminds me of all the welcome home celebrations Joe & I had while he was in the Army.

I can remember every detail from every welcome home ceremony. I can tell you what I wore, what the weather was like, what time they said Joe would arrive, and what time he actually arrived. The old Army motto of "hurry up and wait" was never more true than when the wives are waiting for their soldiers to come home!

Who says Valentine's Day has to be February 14th? Ask any wife who has had that first welcome home kiss after a deployment, and she'll agree that day is the most romantic day of the year.

EDIT: Today has been wedding day at work. And, I have to say, it has been a romantic day. I have loved the couples that have made today their wedding day. One couple, was a sweet, young couple that was full of hope and promise. I could tell they truly loved each other, and Iwish them a lifetime of happines. Another couple made me smile from ear to ear. They're both in their mid-seventies and widowers. I knew the bride in a round about way, their family farm is less than two miles from Mom & Dad's house and everyone on that end of the county knows that family. She's a spitfire! She's the momma of all boys, she cusses like a sailor, she's outspoken and runs their farm better than any man ever could. She can bake a loaf of bread that melts in your mouth, and she can tell you everything there is to know about delivering calves. To see her come in my office all dolled up in her pale pink suit with baby's breath in her hair made me giggle. When I told her who I was she grabbed me in a big hug and said, "Oh honey, I haven't seen you in years!" ..how can that not make you smile?

She made me the photographer, and told the magistrate performing the wedding, "I don't know why you're so nervous, this isn't my first rodeo!" It was however, the first wedding ceremony that he has performed since taking office.

To have a 70-something-plus couple come in to get married and witness how happy and full of joy they are, it is romantic. It made my heart swell.