Happy Valentine’s Day!
Hearts, "unsheathed from winter"
I had a full-spectrum Valentine’s weekend. There were some twinges of sadness, yes; but for the most part, it was filled with happy smiles and lots of love.
On Valentine’s Day, my husband treated my sister, a very good friend, and me to High Tea at Victorian Manor. Why yes, he did look a little bit silly pouring tea into a gilt-edged tea cup, while perching precariously on the edge of a beribboned, lavender-painted chair! But was his masculinity threatened by the flowery tea pots and gauzy decorations? No way. “This is heaven,” he said. “I’m surrounded three beautiful women!” And that, my friends, is but one example of why he’s the man of my dreams.
Also this weekend, my siblings and I piled into an SUV and traveled Historic Route 66. It was a trip down memory lane—and a road to healing for all of us. A Sunday road trip seemed to us a fitting final tribute to our father, the itinerant preacher.
We ambled from No Place to Nowhere, swapping stories about the countless times we’d squished together in the back seat, hurtling from one state to another, and from one tent revival to the next. Then we scattered my father’s ashes along a portion of that old highway—among the Joshua trees and tumbleweeds, between the rusted railroad trestle and the crumbling asphalt.
When we headed back to the car, a metal object glinting in the sunshine caught my eye. I scraped away some sand with my shoe—and look! A vintage side view mirror! Perhaps it was because my heart and mind were wide-open at that point, but that roadside artifact seemed to me a profound metaphor.
My sisters, brothers and I spent a very full day looking back on all the times we’d climbed into the back seat of my father’s car. And after his ashes were scattered and each of us had said our piece, I climbed into the driver’s seat and drove us safely home.
Out of the blue (probably because tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day), this Golden Oldie popped into my head:
I wonder wonder who, oouu who
Who wrote the book of love
Tell me, tell me, tell me
Oh who wrote the book of love
I’ve got to know the answer
Was it someone from above
I wonder wonder who, be-do-do who
Who wrote the book of love?
The first time I heard this song, I was sweltering in the crowded back seat of my family’s Bel Air, headed down an endless ribbon of highway to yet another Revival. Afraid to break the Eleventh Commandment (“Children should be seen and not heard!”), my much-older siblings whispered the words.
My father’s radar ears picked up the lyrics. He spoke into the rear view mirror.
“God’s the author of The Book of Love,” he said, emphasizing the definitive article.
I’m far less certain than my father, but definitely more kumbaya in my own answer. I say each of us is commissioned to write our own Book of Love, and that we’re co-authors of a multi-volume set. Some people pen poetry; others of us write prose. Some prefer private journaling, while others like writing for an audience. Regardless, our stories come from our hearts.
I wonder…All you book lovers out there, how would you answer this question?
The Monotones sing Who Wrote the Book of Love (via YouTube)
Still thinking about giving a Valentine’s Day treat to our men and women in the military? It’s too late to mail off a package on your own, but you can still send an email. You might also consider participating in a project that delivers books directly into the hands of our troops.
Jerry O’Brien, the heart and brain behind this project, is a friend of mine. I can personally vouch for his honesty and generous spirit, so I hope you’ll think seriously about contributing. In Jerry’s own words:
“The troops in Iraq have very little to do when they are not working. They really do enjoy reading. AF Liliya Timonichev, who is stationed in Iraq said in an email:
I’ve heard of (Laurel K. Hamilton) and also read some of her books. Don’t ask exactly what, ’cause I just read so many of them by whom and what … Vampire and time travel are the ones I really love. Christine Feehan wrote a good series, but I already own that, but any other of her books I’m waiting to put my hands on.
In my newsletter The Panache Experience, I mentioned that I collected over 120 CDs to send to two U.S. Air Force Personnel, Liliya Timonichev and Stephen Bretzinger, in Iraq. The CDs will be shared among the personnel and any donated books will also be shared and read and shared and read and shared and read and so on.
Help the troops and help to build your reading base. This is a great way to get the most bang for your book.* One book being circulated has to be worth at least two sitting on a shelf gathering dust.
Send your book (s) to Jerry O’Brien at 2808 E. Imperial Highway Brea, CA 92821, and he will pack and ship them to our service personnel. If you have a question about the project, send an email to Jerry@partiesbypanache.com. I obtained the names of these AF personnel and contact information from www.troopcarepackage.com“
*If you write children’s books, or if you haven’t yet published a book of your own, you can instead donate books from your favorite grown-up authors, of course!