Hearts

I love hearts. I wear hearts, have jewelry with heart motifs, and decorate my home with hearts. The heart is a symbol that cheers me to no end, gives me optimism for the future, and lifts my spirits when I’m feeling low.

As is plainly evident with my writings at Chief 187™Chatter, I am a proponent of love and romance. I celebrate relationships, explore music and stories about love, and revel in the power of love.

My adoration of hearts can trace back to my mother. She, having eloped on Valentine’s Day with my father, wore hearts all throughout my childhood and introduced me and my wardrobe to the same.

But my mother’s love affair with hearts drifted off and other symbols took their place. While she started to embrace celestial symbols – suns, moons, and particularly stars – I only had eyes for hearts.

Meeting my husband at the tender age of fourteen and being with him from that point to the present are facts that fed into my passion for hearts. We were and still are a very loving, passionate, and demonstrative couple. Hearts were an outward symbol of our love.

As my love of hearts is well known, so, too, is my love of jewelry. I have collected some lovely pieces over the years. Whether “fine jewelry” or “fashion pieces” I always gravitate to hearts. It simply feels wrong to me to choose anything but hearts.

Some may roll their eyes at this cutesy obsession I have with hearts. Others may pass it off as me being stuck in a juvenile rut. But, I will explain the thought process behind my love of hearts.

In my nearly forty years on the planet I am most proud of my relationship with my husband.

What about my children?

Yes, but they are truly an extension of the love between my husband and me.

What about my writing career?

Yes, but how I write and what I write is also directly related to my relationship with my husband.

You see, my relationship with my husband spans twenty-five years, has provided many near-insurmountable problems, and endured them all. And, through it all, my husband and I have put one another first and the relationship above all else.

I talk to people who have had friends since childhood, but have been divorced twice. I know folks who have a high-paying, stressful job that affords those expensive vacations, big homes, fancy cars, and they are never home with their families to enjoy their riches.

Those around me usually get frustrated by my steadfast commitment to my husband/family, but I don’t care. I learned long ago to say “yes” to my life and “no” to obligations that do not affect me greatly.

This doesn’t mean I do not volunteer my time, have friends, or get involved, on the contrary, I do! But I know what my limits are to provide a stable home life. Because, above all else, the relationship must not just “survive”, but flourish and thrive to continue to grow, nurture, and provide support.

I don’t want to be married and resentful. I don’t want to be anywhere but where I want to be. So, I build in time for our family to be together, I schedule date nights, and, although we do have an extraordinarily busy social life with extracurriculars for the children, we always have down time so we can just be.

When my children leave the home, start lives and families of their own, I want to look at my husband and smile. I want it to be the beginning of a new chapter with us as familiar characters, not strangers.

In this world, relationships truly are what matter most. Songs from every culture are written about love. We constantly expend energy on finding and keeping love.

My greatest accomplishment, my greatest legacy is my relationship with my husband. As imperfect as it is, the relationship has stood the test of time, continues to grow and prosper, and fulfills us each.

Why do I love hearts?

Because in their beautiful shape a story, our story, is told every time it is viewed. It is the perfect symbol to espouse the love I have for my husband.