So permit me to vent just a bit. To all of you people, (and by people, I mean men,) who wait until the "day before" Valentine's Day to purchase your pitiful little cards and your cheap, heart-shaped box of hardly eatable candy, along with the wilted bouquet of daises, I say STOP IT! It makes it sooo much harder on those of us who wait until the "day of" Valentines to find something for our oh so special loved one! Such was the case this last February 14th.
I awoke early that morning and turned on the news expecting to hear about gas prices rising or the new war in Bango-Bango, when lo and behold, blazoned across my tv screen with a wide banner was the phrase, "Happy Valentines Day!" Panic and fear simultaneously overcame me. If I have to, I can pay a little more at the pump. I might still have the stamina to fight in Bango-Bango for the revolution, but the thought of facing Betty this Valentine's morning, without a token of my love would be more than I could endure. I'm sure she already has me a card. Probably a card and a gift. Probably a card, a gift, and a video of all our treasured moments together. Oh No! I headed to Valentine Central,... the drug store. Now this part is where paragraph one kicks back in. It was worse than the milk and bread aisle of a grocery store during a hurricane! Not a card, not a petal, not even a tootsie roll! The "day beforers" had struck and the world was so empty! But then I saw it! A splash of red under the card rack. Could it be? I scrambled toward the color with all my speed and sure enough, it was a beautiful, heart-shaped card with a ribbon and glitter! I grabbed it as I slid by and rushed to the counter to make my love redeeming purchase. I didn't have my glasses, so the print seemed a little blurry. I held the card in a better light while waiting in the cash register lane and still could not make out the words. I saw a magnifying glass on a rack and used it to scan the writing. This is where the morning takes a seriously bad turn. The beautiful red card, was in Spanish! Oh no! It's the only card left! The only one at all. There are no other cards! It's the very last of it's species! What to do, what to do! I'll tell her I'm trying to be multi-cultural. I'm a man of the world. I'm searching for my "south of the border" personality. I have to buy the card! It's the last one! It's a beautiful card in a beautiful language. What could be wrong with that? I'm buying it. But wait, what does it say? Is it for my wife or my mother? Oh no! Not for my mother! At that time a Mexican guy came walking right by the check-out lane. I said, "Sir, could you read this card to me?" He stared at me like I'd asked him for his wallet. "This card, I can't read it because it's in Spanish and I don't know Spanish, could you read it to me and tell me what it says?" "OK, he said." So he began reading the card to me.....IN SPANISH! It was a really long read! He didn't know English, I didn't know Spanish. It was like two rear tires spinning opposite directions in a muddy ditch. Can I give it to Betty not knowing what it says? It has a big red heart right on it. It must be a Valentine card. But what if it's not? What if it's a coronary by-pass recovery card? At this point, it doesn't matter, it's all I've got! I bought the card. I took it home and signed it "With Love, Davido" Betty found it on the dining table that morning. She opened it and began to read. She looked at me and said, "You do know that it's in Spanish" "Yes I said, I'm trying something different." Then she smiled and said, "It was the last one wasn't it?" After 41 years together, it's hard to pull anything new! She turned it over and much to my surprise, in tiny letters (never go card shopping without your glasses) was the English translation. She began to cry as she read it. I asked if she was touched because I had remembered Valentines Day. "No." Are you crying because this is our 41st Valentines Day together? "No." Well honey, I'm going to need a little more info before I can comfort you. She looked up and said, "This is the sweetest, most thoughtful, loving card you have ever gotten me."
.....Oh my! What just happened? Did I make this work? Did I come out ahead? Hey, instead of a pit, like I usually fall into, I think I stumbled into a field of flowers here. Then she turned to me and said, "I especially like the last line of the card that says, 'My love for you is forever like a diamond, so go to Zales and pick out whichever one you want.' That's my favorite line,"she said smiling.
.....Wait, is that what it says?! Is that really in there? Does it actually mentioned Zales?! How do you spell Zales in Spanish? Let me see that card!
On our way to Zales, I'm stopping at the drug store to see if they've gotten any early Valentines for next year. Thanks a lot all you "day beforers!"
If you never read it, you'll never know for sure what it says. Joshua 1:8