The Mostest Romantic Moment Was...

"Klecko,you make a big deal out of Valentine's right? Have you had one specific incident that was more romantic than the others?"

R.S. Waco / TX

Yes R.S., I have stated it in several different posts. The 3 most important days of the year are those which I refer to as "The Romantic Holidays."

Wedding Anniversary, New Year's and Valentines are the 3 days in which a man can raise the trust and love levels in his relationship with his wife or girl friend.

I remember years ago, when I was a young man, I remember one particular February when I was quite depressed.

I really-really used to work very hard, physically that is. I'd work 60 hours a week, but after paying my bills, I had something like $318 left in my checking account.

Don't get me wrong, I was grateful that I was able to support my then Live in Love interest Sue McGleno while she was going to nursing school, but I was so-so-so in love with her and I secretly wished I could take her to France so I good drink Champagne with her,eat cafe bread with her, walk with her on cobblestone and buy her Parisian underwear.

But planning romance on 300 bucks is like pushing a camel through the eye of a needle.

So Klecko was quiet.

For days I pouted.

People wondered what had made my usual demeanor shift so dramatically, but I wouldn't tell them.

But I did come up with a plan. I guess you could call it "Love on a shoestring budget".

I went out, bought her a gift, and was determined to give it to her first thing on Valentines morning.

So the big day finally came and I ran down to the basement to fetch the present which I had hidden carefully, and then I ran back upstairs and paused in the doorway of our bedroom.

Sue McGleno was laying stretched out across the bed with a look of abject joy on her face.

Over the years I have known this woman to love many things, but Sue McGleno is never fully in her "True Element" unless she is asleep.

It was a very bright morning, and the sun slammed hard against the frosty window on the north side of the bedroom. So in a way, these rays of muted sun formed a mystical kind of spotlight that bounced off of Sue McGleno's face.

I remember I just stood there holding my gift and watching her sleep.

In a way, I kind of felt ashamed that I felt I needed to depend on the French (or any other romantic venue for that matter) to define our love.

Then, as if angels whispered in her ears.....her eyes slowly opened and I could tell she was trying to focus her vision to the brightness.

One......Two......Three.......her eyes made the nessasary adjustments, and when she saw me, and what I was holding, she shifted her body into a more comfortable position and just smiled....and refused to speak.

There in the doorway stood this big Pollack lout, holding a large cage which contained a canary that I had taken the liberty of naming Cecil.

I really don't know how much time passed....20 seconds, 15 minutes?

But I think both of us were afraid to talk, because if we did, words would have completly deflated the moment.

Does that make sense?

Then......then my boy Cecil began to sing, and I will tell you in the presence of the Saint's that it was the most glorius sound I had ever heard.

At this point I set the cage on top of the dresser and closed the bedroom door because Jeter the cat was lurking about.

when I turned my attention back to Sue McGleno, she had a soft tear rolling down her cheek.

So that's when I crawled into bed with her and the both of us just laid there and fixated on a singing canary.

Years have passed since then, and I have been blessed to take my wife to different parts of the globe, but truth be told......Paris is really just buildings-people and food.

But if theres one thing I've learned in my lifetime, nothing is quite as special as when greatness visits you.

Valentines is around the corner peeps, get busy.