Valentine's Past

Thirteen years ago today, I was on an airplane flying from Texas to California to visit Bob. He had planned the perfect evening with attention to detail not being forgotten. It was my first visit to Sacramento and I was so surprised to see all the almond trees in bloom. I had never even seen almond trees before and was surprised at how small the trees were. As the sun was going down Bob turned onto a dirt road and parked by a lake. It was beautiful. And that's when he asked me to marry him. I was taken by surprise, and although I wanted to say "Yes!" I needed some time to pray and think before giving my answer.

We had our first date in "Old Blue".

When we arrived at his home, I was greeted by his dog, Sugar Bear, a Rottweiler/Chow/SaintBernard mix who was not happy to see me and I held on tight to Bob's arm as we walked to the door with him telling Sugar Bear it was O.K. that I was there and to be a good dog. I wasn't sure Sugar Bear understood him, so I stuck close to Bob whenever I was outside in the yard. His home was in a beautiful setting with a year-round stream running in the front yard with park-like landscaping. As I entered the house I was surprised at what I saw! I guess I was expecting a bachelor look home, and it wasn't that at all. He had a linen tablecloth on the dining room table with a dozen red roses in a beautiful crystal vase in the center with a card laying next to the vase with my name written on it. He had made several pies and a pan of fruit rolls too !

Sugar Bear

Every year Bob makes Valentine's day special just for me and I have a whole collection of beautiful crystal vases that he has given me over the years.

The vase Bob gave me on our first Valentine's Day.

My collection of vases that Bob has given me over the years.

This Valentine's Day Bob gave me these two pieces of crystal.