True Love
Last year the holiday of hearts happened on a Sunday. There was a collective suffering from a year of pandemic life, social distancing, and lock downs. Vaccines were only starting to be administered. Restaurants were at limited capacity, if not outright shuttered. Love was not in the air.
One of the wisest challenges ever put forth to me was to do something nice for others when I felt low. It had been a year of struggle across the board. Friends and family members had succumbed to COVID-19. I worried about elderly and immunocompromised parents, neighbors, and customers. Everywhere people were demanding, irritable, short-tempered, and frustrated.
Over the years I’ve come to accept the lack of cards, candy, flowers, baubles, and romance on February 14th, but last year my inner malaise went far beyond agrarian solitude. Physically and emotionally I hurt. Worse, I was out of colorful paper needed to print out my weekly market signs. So far into a case of the blahs I considered using plain white paper because that’s how I felt, devoid of all color.
Ordering online for a curbside pickup, once again I was reminded about Valentine's Day with a popup banner interrupting my navigation to the office supply section. BOGO ALL CHOCOLATE it read. The first thought was to drown my sorrows in a few bags of heart-shaped Hershey’s, but back at the farm a new idea took shape. Instead of me not being someone’s Valentine, I was going to make all my customers my Valentine.
A few minutes at the computer and an evening spent cutting out bright pink hearts with a corny poem as I listen to Barry White while sipping wine by the fire put me in the mood for what I was about to do. I’d slipped an assortment of things into patrons’ egg cartons previously—birthday wishes, invitations to coffee, colorful feathers, and Hanukkah gelt. While the gestures began as something for them, it created immeasurable joy for me, too.
I was done wallowing in self-pity and was going to own Valentine’s Day. Packing for market I placed pink hearts and festive chocolates in my customers’ orders and went to bed with a warm feeling of satisfaction.
Farming is a true love, a passion. Talk to any of your farmers and not a single one will tell you they’re in it for the money, the benefits, prestige, or a flexible schedule. We work 24/7/365. There aren’t many holidays that offer a day off from our chores. Just ask the farmers who showed up at market on December 26th and January 2nd. The farms and our customers are our priorities putting loved ones into third place at times. Try scheduling a date with a normal person when your work week is Friday through Monday. For that very reason this year’s Valentine's Day will also be moot.
So if your struggling over your loneliness this weekend, do something special for someone else. Trust me, it will make you a believer in the power of true love.