An Unauthorized Valentine's Post

Listen, friends:

I really shouldn’t be doing this.  In my almost ten years of marriage to Heather, one thing I’ve learned is that you never, ever write in her journal.  Or doodle in it.  Or touch a piece of paper that Heather may have, at some point, intended to write on.  The reasons for her pet peeve are completely understandable:  Heather wants the thoughts she records to be her own and not someone else’s.  I say this only to alert you that what I am about to post to Heather’s blog is important and worth the risk.

(But keep in mind that your reactions will decide if I get a kiss on the cheek or a kick in the seat—so keep it positive, people!)

This is our tenth Valentine’s Day as a couple, and I can honestly say that I didn’t know what love was before I met Heather.  My understanding of romance was like a Hallmark card, or even worse, a Hallmark made-for-TV movie: sappy, sentimental and super-low budget.  But Heather has taught me that love is so much more than handsome princes and upwardly mobile females who are trying to ditch their workaholic [fill in the profession] fiances so they can marry handsome princes.

Love is about celebrating life’s big accomplishments together.

Heather and James on his BYU graduation day.

Love is also about rejoicing in the little things.

Heather and teeny-tiny Everett!

And love grows when you share it.

The Wiggintons in Yosemite, 2017

Love is also about sticking together when life isn’t so peachy.  Sometimes, in a ten-year marriage, you feel like there’s more “for poorer” than “for richer” . . .

 When we were in England and living on a shoestring, these Halloween jack-o-lanterns turned into . . . 

. . . November 1st pumpkin soup.

 And our living room lamp doubled as a Christmas tree.

. . . and more “in sickness” than “in health.”

We also grow older and lose our youthful looks.  True romance is remaining attracted to your companion even as they age.

James in 2009.  Note the hair.

James in 2018.  Note the lack of hair.  Still looks just as goofy as he did in 2009, though.

Heather in 2009.  Gorgeous and fun.

Heather in 2018.  Still gorgeous and fun.  I swear she doesn't age.

In short, love is about kindness and goodness and persistence.  A prophet I know said it better than I can:  “And charity . . . seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

Heather embodies these qualities and more, and if you’re reading this, you know it’s true!

Happy Valentine’s Day to the woman who’s teaching me to love.