Dear Diary,
Today is Valentine’s Day. A special day, in part as it would have been my mother’s birthday. God was good to me, who possesses a faulty memory, to have her birthday on a Holiday so I can’t forget. One of the core Christin beliefs is that the Lord will raise up those who believe in Him and we will spend eternity with Him heaven. So while my mother is missed I look forward to reuniting with her in a better place for all eternity.
I love the instant access to information. Valentine’s Day has been celebrated for a long time, but like many, I suppose, I forget its roots. So I merely Google, and up pops the answer, though it is not clear cut, having been lost in the annals of time. The common answers are a priest who was martyred for marrying Roman soldiers against the empire’s edict, or a priest who fell in love and before he died sent a note, from your Valentine, to his love. Easy to see who love and romance are associated with the Holiday.
My Rotary club had its annual presentation by a member who is a leading realtor in our community. Lots of facts and figures. One thing that jumps out at me is the affordability we have in our community. How do people who live on the costs ever afford a home? Glad to live in Muncie, not only as we can buy a house but the people are friendly and accepting. It has also been easy to get involved in things ranging from Rotary to clubs like Audubon, to our church, neighborhood association, and Muncie Chamber of Commerce. When I got my job in Muncie over 13 years ago, we were not enthused to move from our prior community. Now as retirement approaches, and we wonder if we will stay or move, no matter the answer I will miss people and things in Muncie if we move closer to family.
My phone said it would be cool and cloudy. So when it was a sunny day I was pleasantly surprised. We have four of our grandkids with us and decided to go to Connor Prairie. We drove up and there were a handful of cars in the parking lot. I figured the place would not be crowded, and I was right. The six of us were more than all the other tourists I saw there today. So we got lots of attention from the Connor Prairie workers. They are all in period and share things of what life was like in their time era. Wow, what a hard life. Google to get the answer to who was St. Valentine was not an option! I heard that a Pharoah of Egypt could more easily adapt to being a Pilgrim, despite the passage of thousands of years, than a Pilgrim to adopt to our time, despite the passage of about 200 years. I think there is a lot of truth in that. In my own life the jump in technology and shifts in social mores is amazing.
After Connor Prairie we had a lazy afternoon. The grandkids all with their noses in some tech device, made for a quite time. I got in a nap, amazing how good I have become at napping. Tomorrow we are off to Ohio for another grandchild’s birthday, but we don’t have to leave early so we all stayed up late. Great day.