Happy Valentine's Day

Korrin B.

February 14, 2010 - 10:17 PM

I'm not going to be cynical and make this post about how everyone should just love each other every day instead of waiting for some scheduled moment to decide, "Oh yeah, I like you." I'm not going to ramble about the problem of having holidays create unmet expectations. Instead, in honor of Valentine's Day, I am going to focus on love. In the end, that is all there is. This blog post is a small summary of the many loves of my life.

My Mother - If I can have one expectation every Valentine's Day that never lets me down, it is this woman. For as long as I can remember, she has taken that moment to make my day special. I remember being little and having her give me this old-fashioned looking teddy bear that wore a sundress and a straw hat with wooden heart-shaped buttons. This year, I received two boxes in the mail, both from Harry and David. One was a box of the most delicious cherries I may have ever eaten and a small box of chocolates and the other was a box of scrumptious, ripe pears. My mother never ceases to amaze me with her oddly perfect, unique Valentine's Day gifts. I love my mom.

My Father - A man whose quirky, humble, moody behaviors scarily mimic my own. He may be a total guy when it comes to the holidays, but he's there throughout the year with his fatherly advice and positive reinforcement. I couldn't imagine my college years without his perfectly timed phone calls. I love my dad.

My Brother - We have come a long way since I was little and tried to throw that rock at him (You know how older brothers can get! Don't worry, I completely, totally missed.). My brother has become increasingly important to me as we have gotten older. We have amazing conversations and are some of the only people who get our intellectual, somewhat cynical sense of humor. We understand each other and that is not an easy task. I love my brother.

My BFF - You know who you are. The one person I can truly just trip on life with and walk side by side with. We've enjoyed some of Oregon's best microbrews together and have created some of the best memories a person could ever ask for. She is a beautiful force in my life. I love my BFF.

My Education & My Work - Oddly enough, sometimes when I am feeling down, the best way to pick myself back up is to focus on the incredible opportunity I have before me and to do the best work I can with my various educational projects. I get a high from my research and writing that I can't get from anything else. I am continually grateful that I have this opportunity in front of me, that I get to be educated. My internship applications may periodically consume my life, but it's a feeling I oddly enjoy. I love my education and my work.

As I'm writing this post, I realize that it could go on for quite sometime. I'm happy I did it though, as now I can go to sleep feeling as though I have paid proper tribute to this uber-pink holiday. I will close with a more condensed list of other loves of my life. They are as follows: Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie, my dog Scooby, art, my studio, the ocean, planners, scholarships, the internship director for the PPPM department and her strong belief in what she does, rain, sun, airplanes, food, and an infinite amount of other feel goods.