A Testament of Love and Commitment

Tomorrow is St. Valentine's Day and one year ago I today I was waiting in Christchurch, New Zealand's airport looking for my husband Chris to come through the arrival gate. We were to spend three wonderful weeks traveling the South Island of New Zealand. We had planned to start our trip with a couple of restful days in the beautiful southern alps. Relaxing, enjoying great food and preparing for our long awaited adventure. The day couldn't have been more perfect!

We arrived at our mountain get away and were preparing for our first evening together after being apart for 8 weeks. The afternoon was slowing fading into evening, the mountain out our window was framed with clouds and the sounds of the forest were lulling me to sleep. I decided to take a short nap before dinner. Sounds benign?

My how things can change in an instant! I woke up after my nap and stepped out of bed to prepare for dinner. The light had faded and the room was now just barely lit with the last of the days sun and the first of the evening moonlight. Instead of reaching for my glasses as usual I stepped out of bed and took two steps before realizing that there was a 6" step down from the bed platform to the main room floor. Snap! Crack! Intense pain! In a blink of an eye I had broken my foot. We were 4 hours from the nearest hospital, the mountain roads were now encased in fog and unsafe to travel. The next 16 hours were intense.

The next morning Chris and I traveled back to Christchurch where we would spend the remainder of our time learning the healthcare system of New Zealand. Chris would walk from the hospital to our hosts home daily. Not the trip we had planned. Now it's one year later and my foot has healed we are approaching St. Valentine's Day. Now, we have some hesitation about the impending holiday. See - two years ago the day after St. Valentine's Day - Chris had a major brain aneurysm that sent him to the hospital for four weeks. Resulting in brain surgery and months of rehab.

St. Valentine's Day has been truly one of the heart and testament to the enduring love and commitment of marriage. It's not about flowers, candy, dinner and a movie. All of which are nice - it's about those things that are more enduring in relationships. Most importantly the willingness to celebrate the good times, but also the challenging times of life with another person. May you have a blessed, non-eventful St. Valentine's Day filled with knowing that the people around you are there because they want to be!