Sunday, February 9, 2020

Valentine Love... by Christine Bush


Valentine's Day is coming!

It’s that time of year when we focus on love. 

For many folks, that means romantic love.  The truth is, we romance writers and readers focus on that the whole year through.  But romantic love isn’t a part of many lives. Love is bigger than that.


So how about the other kinds of love in our lives?  We love our families, our friends, our neighbors, our pets.  Sometimes those connections come biologically, like our children, our grandchildren, our parents, our siblings.  But sometimes, the love in our hearts explodes in other directions.  We have adopted children, rescued pets, embraced in laws. It’s all good, and a good reason to celebrate Valentine’s Day,  with that focus on love.

But I’ve seen, over the years, that there are so many in our society who are not so blessed. They are alone.  Retirement homes and nursing homes are filled with elderly individuals who face severe  loneliness every day.  While some residents have family who visit and honor them, many do not.


Their lives may have been filled with love in earlier times, before they were widowed or outlived their relatives and friends.  What can we do about this?

A random visit to a nursing home can show the path. “Adopting a grandparent” is as easy as stopping by to share a cup of tea, or to drop off flowers to a lonely resident. Hearing the stories of their earlier lives is a gift  for both the sharer and the listener. It changes lives. I highly recommend it.


A famous early psychologist, Alfred Adler, was a strong voice in defining individual growth and mental health in the early 1900’s.  He stated that he had never met a truly mentally healthy person who did not take part in some kind of ‘service’  or caring for others. I think he had a good point.


Valentine’s Day is a good time to think about that.  Many of our elderly can use a hug.  If you have love to share, maybe you can drop by a nursing home and give out some Valentine cards, or a bouquet or two. Love is a powerful, healing emotion!

How do you show love to the folks in your life? I’d love to hear! And Happy Valentine's Day!



Christine Bush is a USA Today Bestselling author of romance, romantic mystery, and suspense.  She can be found living in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania with her husband and 2 lazy cats, and spending time with her 14 grandchildren.   When she’s not writing, she’s teaching Psychology at a local college, and working with clients in her private practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist. She loves to hear from readers and writers!



Christine's  “Sunny Smile” is a sweet romantic mystery set on the Navajo reservation!






8 comments:

  1. Christine, what great ideas. Thanks for the reminder.

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  2. Great idea, Christine. I keep in touch and tell them I love them.

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  3. I love this post! My mom is in a retirement community and I call every day as well as visit or take her out at least once a week and she's still bored. It would be so great if people who didn't have family (or local family) could all be "adopted" by someone who could visit and give them some attention!

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    1. Nice! My granddaughters school made a whole stack of homemade Valentines bags, and delivered them to a local retirement home. A big hit! So sweet to share the love!

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  4. Thank you for the great ideas, Christine!

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