What can I write about love? “ Let me count the ways”.

1 - We all know that February 14 is the Hallmark holiday of love, its origins having been a pagan or Roman fertility ritual/feast later honored by the Catholic Church as a celebration of Saint Valentine. Chaucer and Shakespeare are credited with romanticizing the day. Be aware that there’s a shortage of Valentine chocolate as reported in the February 4th edition of the Wall Street Journal.

2 - February is American Heart Month, hoping to raise awareness of the actions we can take to prevent heart disease, the leading cause of death in the US.

3 - Love is all around us, particularly since pop artist Robert Indiana created an image of the letters L O V E to be used for a Museum of Modern Art Christmas card in 1965. That image found its place on a US stamp and was copied in different ways, most spectacularly being the oversize sculptures located in different cities around the world, including one using the four Hebrew letters that spell love, Ahava, at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

4 - Have you heard of the Five Love Languages? The concept, created by Dr. Gary Chapman, a well established marriage counselor, describes five general ways partners express and experience love. It’s worth reading his book or googling the phrase to help enhance your relationships.

5 - Lastly, after being together one evening, my friend shared that the time together “inspired” her to choose 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1 for her church reading the next day. While there are many versions the following resonated with me. “Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not brag…Love never ends, love never fails…After everything there is only faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love.”

I wish you meaningful and loving days all year long.

-Harriet