Memories and Valentines

 Yesterday the Vicar spent some of his afternoon clearing a space for what will become my office in our garage. In that process, he cleaned out several buckets of clothing. We have 5 kids and hand-me-downs are frequent, appreciated, and meaningful for us. One of the greatest contributors to our stash is from my very best friend and the clothes belong to our dear girl who passed on to the next world. Over the last 9ish years we have gotten so many of this sweet girl's hand-me-downs. My friend has said multiple times that she loves seeing the clothes in pictures and it has made her feel close although we are separated by 2 time zones and far too many miles. 

I thought we had gone through the last of the hand-me-downs but this morning I pulled out a shirt and it had the smell of their house and I was overcome with love and a sense of loss. I sat with that shirt for several moments before continuing on with the morning because for the briefest of moments, our sweet love was right there in my living room and I could not only feel her but her mama too. I could feel their hugs and smell the scent of their home and even hear their sweet pony of a dog (they have a Great Dane). And for just a second I was able to have two more parts of my heart back in place. And to top it off it wrapped one of my girls in their love. Who knew a simple heart shirt, purchased years ago, worn, washed, and loving packed away, stored for almost 18 months, and pulled out could evoke all that? It's what I will always call a Lu moment. Her love always shows up. 

My dear friend and I have always said that finding people who love your children like their own, who show up on special days, and even more so on the shitty days is a different kind of love. Those who know how much you need them and need you right back, those are few and far between. So on this day, generally set aside for romantic love, tell those kinda people that you love them too. Tell them and wrap them in love because I bet they'll do it back. And that kind of love, it's hard to find. 

So as I sit here with a huge plastic tub of clothes that I'll sort through I am filled with that familiar scent and lots of love. Love that crosses miles, ups, and downs, and even death. I love you T.