Me and my bridesmaids with our rings on my wedding day. Mine is the one on the bottom left with the gold and silver hearts. Photo: Patrick McAbee

Valentine’s day has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love any excuse to spend time with my husband Kyle. We usually go out to dinner and get each other cards. It never has to be anything fancy, we just enjoy spending time together, and I love greeting cards.
We’ve been married for three years, and together for 10. We knew each other for a long time prior to that since we were in the same grade together since kindergarten. Thanks to our wonderful high school newspaper teacher, Mr. Murphy, we were made co-news editors of our high school paper, where we were the only two responsible members of the newspaper staff. Print days were about an hour of layout work for the two of us, and a few more hours helping out the features, sports and opinion editors to finish their work. Lots of procrastinators in that group, but I don’t blame them. Reporting isn’t for everyone.
Suffice to say, we’ve spent a lot of Valentine’s Days together. My favorite Valentine’s Day gift I ever got was probably six or seven years ago, when Kyle got me a plain ring with two interlocking hearts. I love that ring, and I’ve worn it almost every single day since I got it. The symbol of the two hearts means much more to me than just Valentine’s Day gift.
To me, it symbolizes the way two people can be connected by love, both romantic and platonic. As an example, that ring accompanied both of my best friends down the aisle on their wedding days. It was their something borrowed. As maid of honor for each of them, I made sure they had their something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. And each time I got to borrowed, neither of them had anything. So I took my ring off for them to wear, and now when I look at it I remember how much I love not only Kyle, but my two best friends.
And for our wedding, I got my bridesmaids the same ring in all silver, because I love them and they are part of our story and part of my heart.
The symbol is even on our champagne flutes from our wedding, on the frame that houses our wedding photo and the cake serving set. We didn’t even ask for that, those were gifts from a family member and a coincidence.
Valentine’s Day is a great day to celebrate love, and that doesn’t have to be romantic. We are connected to people we love every day, and I hope you’ll take the time to remember those you love and care about. Even if some of the things we do feel small, those small acts have the ability to stick with a person through the rest of their lives.