From my spiritual director Sarah:

    "Happy Feast of St. Valentine to all!  A bit of history (or legend): St. Valentine was a priest in the time of Emperor Claudius who had made a law that young men could not marry as they were less likely to volunteer to fight in the war.  St. Valentine, a priest, practicing civil disobedience, married people anyway as a protest to the war and Claudius and ended up being martyred…so as we pass around red roses and red hearts we can maybe also pause to pray for those who are victims of war in our own time."

and from my college roommate Sara:

    "Last night my friend (since childhood) Murray wrote to tell me she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer.  Of course, we’ve been dreading this for how long?  It must have been 20 years ago when Murray’s mother was diagnosed the first time.  Still, when it comes, you’re never prepared. 
    Murray asked if I had any ideas about how to research her type of cancer, since medical research is what I do.  I didn’t have to look far.  I have been learning about breast cancer for the last six months from my sister, Nancy, since she was diagnosed.  Although the types Nancy and Murray have are not exactly the same, they are similarly located, lobular types of breast cancer.  Not the usual types, more difficult to get information about.
    When I called to tell Murray about the book Nancy just gave me, Murray’s partner, Isaac, answered the phone.  Isaac told me Murray had gone to sleep.  Instead of waking her, I asked Isaac to write down the name of the book. 
    I told Isaac about some of the other things I’ve learned from Nancy, about diets, supplements, and especially about the great progress Nancy’s made in shrinking her cancer without surgery, chemo, or radiation.  Maybe Murray doesn’t have to do what they’re telling her, which is radical and bilateral mastectomy.
    It was just a little over 10 years ago that Murray had her own first severe illness, a stroke, shortly after she and Isaac started living together.  Then late last year Murray had a sudden abdominal pain episode, requiring a partial colectomy, and that, too was ischemic.  She had just gotten recovered when she got the diagnosis of breast cancer.
    I said to Isaac, “You and she have been through a lot.”
    Without hesitation, Isaac said to me, “Yeah, but even with everything we’ve had to deal with, compared to most people, we are really lucky.”
    Well that is the best testimony of what love is all about that I’ve heard in a LONG, LONG TIME.  So, even with this difficult news, I can say, isn’t my friend Murray doing great!
    To everyone, may you have the kind of love that transforms adversity into another reason to appreciate your life and the ones you love."

    Over the years, I’ve learned to ignore the sugared hype of most holidays and stay with the reminder to cherish love in all its forms (what most holidays seem to really be about, when you think about it). To feel, to give, to celebrate its power to transform, to remember LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.

    And now, please break into the Beatles song…