You seem to be holding tight to yourself and keeping your head above water - painful as it is. Wish I knew of an anodyne for this - I'd be rich!
Valentine's Day is coming up. A day made cruel by the comercialization of the greeting card companies and diamond merchants (not to mention the florists). It has always seemed just plain mean to me.
I personally love V. Day because as a teacher of young children I get to see true expressions of joy and love. For children, this is truly a day of giving. Their little faces get so excited when they give their tokens of appreciation. Valentine's Day for children is a day of community and belonging. Romance is still way too icky. I prefer to think of the day as a child would.
Anyway, one of my favorite children's stories is about V. Day and I'd like to share it with you DBers. Sorry for the hi-jack Hope but this one is especially for you.
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli
The story begins with Mr. Hatch who is tall and thin and does not smile. He lives a routinized life of same time, same food, same loneliness. He works in a shoelace factory and has no interactions with his fellow employees. He lives in a brick house where he doesn't know his neighbors.
One day the postman with whom he's never spoken delivers a package. Inside is a heart shaped box filled with candy. Attached is a little white card that says, "Somebody loves you."
This changes Mr. Hatch. Just knowing that someone cares enables him to start talking to his neighbors and coworkers. He shares his box of candy. Soon he begins to help his neighbors with things and they return the favors. Fiestas and happiness ensue until..... the day the postman arrives on his door and tells him he delivered the box to the wrong house. He is so sorry. Mr. Hatch sighed. "Nobody loved me after all."
Mr. Hatch reverts to his old routinized ways and no longer participates with those around him. Everyone is concerned. The postman explains what happened. Mr. Hatch's neighbors and coworkers band together to show him how important he is to them and one morning when he wakes up he sees everyone he knows outside his door. "All over the porch were red and white hearts and pink bows. There were boxes of candy on the chairs and yellow streamers flowing from the ceiling." There was also a huge banner that said, "Everybody Loves Mr. Hatch"
Ok, I left a lot of the beauty out of the story but I think the "moral" shines through. We create our feelings of belonging by opening ourselves to others. We get what we give. I'm not speaking about romantic love just finding a sense of belonging and being important to people. You've done that here Hope. All you DBers have.
