Happy Valentine's Day...

I want to wish my hubby, Bob Pych, a Happy Valentine's Day 2024! I spent some time today reflecting on a poem I wrote for Valentine's Day 2021 and how different everything was a few years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic... 

TOGETHER ALONE

Happy Valentine’s Day, Bob!

 

It’s been a year of sheltering-in-place

in our home, day after day

We thought the Covid-19 pandemic

would have ended by now

but it continues to groan on

 

For the two of us, every day

is much the same as the day before

It’s quiet. Very quiet

I look at you; you look at me

There’s not a lot to talk about

except what you read in the paper

and I hear on the News

or someone happens to tell us

over the phone

 

This has been a year of appreciating

things taken for granted

like the sweet daily companionship

of the one who loves me

and is loved in return

 

The daily routine of your company

at our breakfast table

I recognize as a blessing

as it is at lunch and dinner

and over a mug of cocoa in the evening

 

I cherish your presence beside me

as we attend our church services

virtually over the computer screen

or seated on the sofa

to watch an old movie

or at the Scrabble board

or that we take turns

exercising on the treadmill

instead of walking outdoors in winter

                  

One day the two of us

spent some time organizing

things in the basement

another time we whipped up

a double-batch of nut breads

just to liven things up a bit

 

Today we baked a cherry cheese pie

in the shape of a heart

as our Valentine gift to each other

 

The warmth of you holding my hand

as we pray before dinner is comforting

Your embrace and tender kisses

seem sweeter now than ever

 

We’re well aware of people

who are utterly alone

those who live by themselves

those who don’t go out and aren’t visited

as this frightening virus rages

We try to put ourselves in their places

imagining no embraces

no kisses, no company at all

 

Before this pandemic

our grandchildren smothered us

with bunches of kisses

Now on the rare occasion

when we see them

they rightly stand a safe six feet away

and gesture a hug and a smooch

behind masks that hide

the faces we adore

 

We miss family, friends

and casual get-togethers

but with everything cancelled

or postponed, we know we must wait

until we’re all vaccinated

and this siege is over

 

Till then, it’s just you and me, my darling

 

I am grateful to God for the blessing

it has been to have you in my life

since the day we said I do…but

 

especially now, my darling

 

especially now

 

Maude Carolan Pych

2/12/2021