Okay. Let's go back 17 or so years. She is young mom who works part time for the school district as a classified employee. He is an injured construction worker who is on the mend post-op. They are broke.....as we used to say furtively growing up, when someone we knew was down on their luck. They were eating bean tacos, hot dogs and meatloaf with mac and cheese so they could stay in their house. Date nights were a thing of the past.
After living on this planet for some 50 years I can honestly say we've had our ups and downs and even been 'broke' a couple of times. We have also owned a couple houses, sent our kids to private schools, experienced some nice vacations. All the trappings one would expect comes with middle class life.
Now, I said all of that to say this. As I look back,,,,and I am want to do this quite frequently... as this, that or the other thing that I see, smell, taste, hear or feel will often prompt me to do; and look back I do most times with great fondness.
Valentine's Day. The day of love. Hearts and flowers. Sweethearts forever. Jewelry, perfume, lingerie.....fancy dinners.....hmmmmm, I feel a warm glow coming over me now. I'm very sentimental, hell, I cried when I went through the tunnel of " It's A Small World" at Disneyland.....tears gushing everywhere, "oh my God that was so sweet, can we do it again, please?" Yep, a regular marshmallow inside.
Fast forward from reverie to the best budget Valentine ever.....
The young mother and father take a walk together. All these years later it is still something that they love to do wherever they go. They walk about a mile from their home to the local Thrifty Drug Store where an ice cream counter stands. Today they get a double scoop each! Usually, when they take the kids for special treat everyone gets a single scoop. He chooses Cherry Chocolate Chip/Mint Chip for his Valentine treat.....she chooses......she chooses......she....chooses....she can't remember what she chose honestly because it was different everytime she went. She always was the more adventerous one.
After eating, they hold hands and walk over to the greeting card section and start looking at Valentine Cards and reading them aloud to one another. Sentiment flowed as each of us tried to outdo the other with our card's terms of endearment.
We then moved to the humorous and slightly naughty.....we laughed and guffawed so loudly and were there so long that we were afraid we were going to be asked to leave. We never were.
As we walked home, I felt so rich and that I was lucky that my best friend in the whole world loved me back. Ice cream scoops back then were 25 cents a scoop, so our whole Valentine's date cost a dollar. Yet the memory of it lasts a lifetime.
I think, that what puts us at our best as human beings, is the ability to work with what we have right in front of us. We had virtually nothing at the time and yet we had everything that makes for love and laughter.
All of us have our stories. Please feel free to share your best budget Valentine experience with the rest of us, and if your feeling economically stimulated in any way please feel free to visit the shop and find a bargain, participate in the contest and add a bit of fun to your day. Just click on my avatar.
Have a most loving and filled with laughter Valentine's Day!
Warmly,
~HDRose
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