By Caroline Clemmons
Welcome February, treated as the month
of love. Actually, it’s only one of eleven others that offer the same opportunity
for love. At least, I hope love in your life is not restricted to February.
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Probably, we are each hoping for
something special on Valentine’s Day. Do you prefer flowers, jewelry, candy, dining
out, or all of those? Even a verbal wish and a hug can make my day. That’s not
to say I’d turn down any of the aforementioned Valentine’s gifts.
Hero never forgets to do something special.
Now that his Parkinson’s prevents him from driving, he calls on our youngest
daughter to act as his personal shopper. Luckily for me, she does great work.
Ah, well, on to reminiscing. Do you
remember the first Valentine candy you received from a guy? I do, as well as
how surprised—make tha shocked—l was to find it in my school locker. I was in
the seventh graden, and far from a femme
fatale. His cubby was only a few down from mine. Of course, he was watching
when I opened my door. I have no idea what I said, but it must have been
acceptable because he stuck around for several years. I had thought the boy was my pal Margie’s
boyfriend. So did Margie. Need I say she stopped being my buddy that day?
While I was a housewife, I was always a
room mother. When our oldest daughter was in kindergarten, for her class
Valentine’s party I made for myself a white double-knit pantsuit trimmed in red.
Shudder. Good grief, seeing that photo now is embarrassing! At the time, I
thought it was just right for Valentine’s Day. Times and tastes definitely change, don't they?
Our daughters are polar opposites. The
oldest never met a stranger and loves talking to people. The youngest is extremely
shy, but learned to hide it later. They do look like sisters and I sometimes made them matching dresses (for
some reason that now escapes me). I knew our youngest daughter didn’t like her second grade teacher, who had been her sister’s teacher two years earlier. At the class
party, the teacher gushed on and on about how much alike the girls were and how she enjoyed them. Maybe she knew I played bridge with the principal.
Memories of good times are fun to
recapture. I hope you have good memories and are making new ones to savor
later.
By the way, if you’re looking for tales of romance, adventure, and happily ever after, the first book of my Texas Hill Country
Mail Order Brides series is what you need. Plus, it's on sale for only 99¢ on Amazon. GENTRY AND THE MAIL
ORDER BRIDE can be found at this URL:’
https://www.amazon.com/Gentry-Texas-Country-Order-Brides-ebook/dp/B0B6YN6QHK
Here's the blurb:
Sometimes
the perfect match is the one you didn’t expect.
Nothing much riles Gentry McRae. He
works hard on the ranch he co-owns with his best friend, and is content with
his life. He’s proud of all they’ve accomplished in the ten years since the
war. That is, until his partner dies and leaves a fourth of the ranch to his
mail-order bride—and wills the bride to Gentry.
“Now
just a doggone minute, I don’t plan to marry for years!”
But, a single woman can’t reside on a
ranch where four men live without ruining her reputation. What’s a good man to
do, except marry the woman when she arrives?
Heidi Roth has been spurned for being
too plainspoken and too tall. In addition, her sister constantly makes fun of
her for those reasons. That’s why—with many doubts—she’s willing to travel for
months from Bavaria to Texas to marry a man who once lived in her town. When
she arrives, she learns her prospective groom is dead, but left her a fourth of
his share of a ranch. She has serious doubts, but agrees to wed Gentry to
protect her reputation. From the next day, one event after the
other happens. Is this the life she wants?
Happy Valentine’s Day.
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