Have you had one of those flashback moments of a memory that brings joy? Valentine’s Day occurred this week and I reflected on creating hearts with my grandpa. As a child, I was frustrated with making hearts. When it came to cutting out hearts, I couldn’t get the concept of cutting a heart by cutting on the fold. My grandpa saw the struggle and he would sit next to me, while showing the steps of drawing and cutting a heart.

My grandpa was a wonderful person. I spent a lot of time at my grandparents, as they lived just a few blocks from me. When I would visit, I would usually be playing on the main level and wait for my grandpa come downstairs. When he came downstairs, I would crawl under the dining room table and wait for him to come near and then jump up. He would pretend to be scared, as I tried to trick him.

This time of the year, I think of him more so because of the time spent creating hearts. I have a Go Fish game that I have kept since the age of three and inside that game are the hearts I made with my grandpa. Over the years, I have kept that box in a safe place and take those hearts out at times and look at them.

As I look at them, I see the lines he drew to guide me in the first step of creating the hearts. I also see the creases as we practiced folding down the middle to cut it symmetrically. If you look look closely, on some of the hearts you will see my grandpa’s handwritten numbers. He would do his budgeting and when he was finished he would flip the paper over and use it to trace hearts. After these years, I get sentimental looking at his handwriting, along with seeing the guides on those hearts.

When Matt and I were expecting, I shared with him I wanted to name our child (if it was a boy) Drew after my grandpa. My grandpa passed away when I was ten, but I sure have fond memories. In his later years, he battled health issues and was strong despite the pain. The name Drew is a simple, yet strong name. The name Drew fit my grandpa and it fits our son Drew. Our Drew is a simple boy. He loves to help others and always puts others before himself. Matt’s grandpa’s middle name was Andrew, so Drew was named after two of his great grandfathers.

In the Fall, we were in a 5K obstacle race. After the race, I asked Matt if we could drive to the nursing home where my grandpa lived for a period of time, as it wasn’t too far from the race site. As a child, we lived about an hour away from the nursing home. I remember playing pool in the community room and eating ice cream by the lake with my grandpa.

When we approached the facility, I asked the boys and Matt to give me some time. The place is no longer in use and is now boarded up. I stood to the side and just looked at the surroundings in the country and all those memories appeared. Even though time passes, memories stay strong. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see a place that showed love by caring for my grandpa.

This moment had joy in remembering memories but it also, had sadness. The word that characterizes the memories is bittersweet. Bittersweet is an emotion that consists of sadness and happiness

Recently, I have been watching my DVR recorded shows. The guest that seems to be visiting the talk show circuit is the singer Michael Bolton. I am a huge Michael Bolton fan. Matt and the boys gave me a Michael Bolton birthday card last year. As I opened the envelope and pulled out the card, I laughed. There was a cut out of Michael Bolton singing a birthday greeting. One of his hit songs entitled “Love is a Wonderful Thing”, is upbeat and the lyrics share how love is wonderful and it changes you.

One of the home décor projects I am working on is this string art heart. When creating, I enjoy making a variety of creative items. When I first saw this example at a hobby store, I thought what a creative way to make a heart. It will be a challenge like it was a challenge to cut out hearts as a child. Creating is what allows us to refine our talents. It’s in the process we learn how to complete the task to make the project complete.

Love is wonderful. Love is at times bittersweet. Love is creating memories that will leave an impression on others.

Thank you for reading! Keep on encouraging others and look for ways to show love.