First Valentine’s Day
Surprisingly, my first Valentine’s Day without Reg was fine. Valentine’s Day was on a Friday, and his sister had decided to visit over that weekend. She had never visited Denver or seen our house. For days leading up to Valentine’s Day, I focused on cleaning the house and getting ready for her visit. When she arrived, we talked and laughed all day about him. We then went to a restaurant that Reg and I enjoyed. It never had many customers but this night, it was full. We finally realized that it was Valentine’s Day. Until that point, we had forgotten.
I did feel sad when I realized it was Valentine’s Day and looked around the restaurant to see the couples. I remember seeing two couples in a booth together and thinking I will never have that experience again. Reg and I will never be a couple sitting in a booth laughing while eating dinner with another couple. Reg and I had never eaten dinner in a restaurant on Valentine’s Day, as he thought restaurants overcharged, served inferior food, and were just too crowded on Valentine’s Day. However, I still felt jealous watching the couples at the restaurant knowing he and I will never eat dinner in a restaurant together again. But all in all, my first Valentine’s Day wasn’t that awful because my sister-in-law distracted me. Generally, I didn’t try to distract myself from grief and instead faced it head on; but in this situation, the distraction helped Valentine’s Day become a pleasant day.
My widow friend Dakota, on the other hand, had a lot of difficulty on her first and even her second Valentine’s Day. She took flowers and a picture of her and her husband to put on his grave. She then tried to act as if it were any other day. But, she had to see happy couples and women around her, including her daughter, receiving gifts from their husbands. While she felt glad for her daughter, she felt tremendous jealousy because she will no longer celebrate that day with her husband.
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