This is Love

Happy Valentine’s Day! I don’t know about all of you, but I happen to have the best valentine ever. He gave me some awesome news today, too. My valentine told me today that he stops chemotherapy tomorrow. Tomorrow night he will receive his final doses from this round. After tomorrow night, it becomes a waiting game. Mason will remain in the hospital until the end of his month-long stay, then they will check his blood and bone marrow again. Fingers crossed for some good news!

It is today that I thought about what Valentine’s Day is to me. Who cares about expensive dinners, flowers and chocolates? Those things aren’t what actually matter. Yes, they are fantastic gestures to show someone you care, but I can think of a couple things that my family and I have grown to appreciate much more than any physical, outward gesture of care. The prayers and support that have been offered by all of you, that is what matters. Everything that everyone has offered to do and followed through on as well, that’s better than any expensive dinner or bouquet of flowers.

Laying down in Mason’s hospital bed with him today, eating Pringles and scratching him until he fell asleep or needed a new place scratched (the chemo makes him itchy), helped me realize that cards, flowers, and presents don’t matter to me on this day (not like they ever really did . . .). The fact that Mason is responding well to his treatment, that’s what matters to me, my family and all of you. Everything each one of you has offered us, and the support we have, that is what matters. Mason’s upbeat attitude and ability to remain himself is what we all care about. The fact that he’s just plain getting better is the most important thing of all. Everything that we have right now, this is what Valentine's Day is about. This is love. (New song!)