Today is Valentine’s Day—not exactly a day that makes most people think of their parents.
But as today approached, I found myself fondly recollecting a moment Mom and Dad shared together one Valentine’s Day about 15 years ago.
My wife—possibly trying to kindle the romantic side of me—had purchased tickets for us to attend a “chocolate festival” on Valentine’s night. Unfortunately, she ended up with a migraine, and instead of spending the night indulging in chocolate, we spent a few hours at a clinic.
The tickets were expensive, though, and we didn’t want to waste them. So we asked Mom and Dad if they wanted to go. The next day they were leaving on a driving vacation to Nashville, but they didn’t let that deter them, and they accepted the tickets.
When they got to the festival, they found—and ate—a lot of very rich chocolate, which put them in the mood for coffee, of which they had several cups. That night—jacked up on the chocolate and coffee—they stayed up late into the night talking, as if they were 20 years younger.
Even when they tried to go to bed, they couldn’t fall asleep. Finally, they figured, “why fight it?” and they got up at 4 am to get an early start on their trip.
Were they tired? Not at all, they told me later. They had pulled an all-nighter—like college kids—and they felt rejuvenated. That day, they drove all the way to Nashville and saw a show at the Grand Ole Opry.
I love rejuvenation, whether it’s a long-married husband and wife enjoying a Valentine’s Day like a young couple, or a hardwood floor Ralph’s Hardwoods Floors has restored.
Chocolate and coffee worked on Mom and Dad; sanding and refinishing work on hardwood floors. Nothing can match the look on my parents’ face when they got back from Nashville, but rejuvenated floors provide me with a similar good feeling. It never fails to amaze me how hardwood floors can be re-sanded and/or refinished to look more beautiful than ever.
This Valentine’s Day, I urge you to spend a loving day with that special someone in your life, and I hope you find it as enjoyable and invigorating as Mom and Dad did on that memorable Valentine’s Day when they had too much caffeine and sugar.
Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/16297216@N03/
