Okay all you romantics, below is a collection of “Love Stories” we received over the last five days. Vote for your favorite story Saturday 2/12 and Sunday 2/13, by clicking the comment button and typing in which story you wish to vote for.  Make sure to encourage your friends and family to vote. We will feature the winning story here on Valentine’s Day and give them a $100.00 gift certificate to The Royal Chocolate!

STORY ONE

So the man of my life was right under my nose and I did not even know it! For at least 12 years Mr. T and I were FRIENDS.  We were married to different people and hung around in a large group of friends that had parties, went skiing, went to the beach and just had fun together.  I married and he went to my wedding and I moved away.  I came back and went to his wedding.  We kept in touch for years and as things would have it both experienced relationships that did not work out.  I set him up with dates with friends and associates and they all loved this good guy.  But it never seemed to work out as anything permanent for his taste.  After I moved back in town and was single, we were having lunch with a Wendy’s burger and he looked over to me and said “So what would you think about us going out?” I immediately answered and said “we are out, what do you mean?’ He said” never mind” and we finished our hamburger and left…when I went back to my office and I got thinking about what he said…Oh my gosh…he meant US…I called him immediately and apologized for killing his ego! I loved him so much as a friend I could not break that awesome relationship up. After much thought, two weeks later we DID go out and the rest is history….as I married my BEST friend and 20 years later it was the best thing I did making that phone call to say how stupid I was for NOT listening………..there is a message here ladies! He’s my best Valentine Ever!

STORY TWO

The most standout Valentines Day for me was a couple of years ago.   I’d been dating my boyfriend for a couple of years, and we already lived together.  He’s never been a particularly verbal guy when it came to expressing his love for me, and in fact he doesn’t ever say the word “Love.”

It’s not just to me, it’s about anything or anyone. It’s like the word is not in his vocabulary.

One day we were joking around and I said, “If you have such a hard time with the word ‘Love’ why don’t you just substitute another 4 letter work that isn’t so scary like ‘Frog.’”

We both laughed, but for months and months I still never heard the word love, or the word frog and I’d forgotten about it.

When Valentine’s Day rolled around, he was traveling and his flight got canceled due to bad weather.  I was kind of sad that he wasn’t going to make it home for the 14^th, but it was always an uneventful holiday in our house, usually missing the mark. I’d get cards that never had the word love printed in them much less written, and fake flowers (Because he thought they’d last longer…) He was just very clueless when it came to a “good” Valentines Day gifts or cards. Or maybe I was just clueless as to how to read his gestures.

Either way it usually ended with me trying to disguise my disappointment and resigning myself to the fact that it really is just a Hallmark Holiday.

With his canceled flight I’d given up the idea of a “romantic” day and accepted the fact that he’d be home the next day.  Midway through the afternoon there was a knock on the door and a HUGE box was delivered. I had no idea what the heck it was and when I opened it I saw the most amazing, beautiful bouquet of orchids, my all time favorite flower.

In the box was a card that said, See you later. Frog/Chris.  I’m sitting there looking at the delivery printed card thinking Frog/Chris? Frog/Chris? And then it dawned on me…. he was saying he loved me.

Good thing he wasn’t there because I burst into tears on the floor and gave the flowers a good watering. It was the first time in over 2 years he’d “said” anything remotely like the word “love.” 

While he shows his love all the time, there is just something special about hearing or reading the word. And in his own way he finally had expressed it in writing.  Now I get frog figurines and stuffed animals all the time and it’s our “code” for love.

STORY THREE

On Valentine’s Day in 2003, the ship I was stationed on, USS Mahan (DDG 72), had a Valentine’s Day party at a hotel in downtown Norfolk.  This was in place of the traditional Christmas party which was missed because we had been deployed.
 
Janice and I had been dating since July 2001 and I thought this Valentine’s Day would be a great day to drop the big question.  I had the ring and a great location, all that was left was to ask her.  That is where things got messed up.  The evening started like this.  We met at the hotel, since she was coming from Virginia Beach and I was already in Norfolk.  We got checked in and ready for the party.  Here is where the problem began.  You know what happens when a bunch of Navy Chiefs get together?  You guessed it…we started drinking…allot.   We were having so much fun that I forgot to pop the question.  Somehow we made it back to the room that night or was it early morning, woke later to a little headache, checked out of the hotel and headed home.  Now here is the really funny part.  I left the ring in the hotel room and only realized this as we were walking to the parking garage.  I quickly threw my bag in my truck and told Janice a little white lie and that I would see her at her apartment later.  You see, the day before, I got to the hotel first and hid the ring in the extra pillow in the closet.  Now I was in a panic, since it was a very large diamond.  I ran back to the front desk, got a key card and rushed to the room, sweat pouring down my face.  And what do I see in the hallway?  The maid’s cart!!!  Now I’m about to have a heart attack, thinking the maid is in my room…well she was only next door and I was able to recover  the ring without a big scene.
 
Though I was a day late and almost a ring short, we got engaged on February 15th, 2003.  And to make things even funnier, our wedding was planned for April 5th, 2003 on the beach in St John, USVI.  Well, that did not go off as planned either, we had a rain delay and said our “I do’s” the next day.

STORY FOUR

Tommy’s office was in the same shopping center as mine.  It was March 1983.  His secretary came to me and asked if I was married.  I said no, then she said “My boss has the biggest crush on you.  He stays late every afternoon just to watch you walk your mail across the parking lot to the mailbox”.  I suggested she give him some reason to come over.  She was a smoker so she devised a plan to have him come ask me for some matches.  Sure enough that shy good looking 33 year old man showed up a couple of days later asking me for matches, and we’ve been together ever since.

STORY FIVE

Valentine’s Day 2003… This was a special day because it was our first Valentine’s Day.  Ryan & I have something special, a once in a lifetime kind of love.  Since we met he has surprised me time after time with the most thoughtful gifts.  This particular Valentine’s Day was no exception!

At this point we lived in San Diego.  Ryan planned a little camping trip up to Alpine.  On the morning of Valentine’s Ryan woke me up and drove up the Sunrise Highway until we reached Sunrise Canyon.  He backed in opened up the back of the Jeep and cooked us breakfast burritos.  While we were sitting there enjoying the sunrise he handed me a beautiful card he had created with beautiful pictures of sunrises and a lovely poem, but the words from his heart were simply spectacular.  It read:

Happy Valentine’s Day My Love

I thought long and hard about what would be the perfect gift for the one that cured my heart and showed me what love really is and loves me unconditionally.

Chocolates?  No, they seem to be the gift of friends and acquaintances.  You are my truest and best friend, but they just don’t seem to say what I feel very well.

Flowers?  They are the gift of love.  Yet somehow they feel temporary, almost fleeting and that is not how I feel at all.

Jewelry?  Now that is permanent.  But they seem to carry a value like a receipt.  I don’t see how my love for you can be quantified.  It is limitless and therefore priceless.

So what does that leave?  The most valuable thing of all, the future.  So for Valentine’s Day I give you eternity together.  That still leaves me with a dilemma.  What do I give to symbolize the future?  What is undying like our love?  What is consistent and predictable? What can be seen by everyone on earth so they know that I am in love with you?

I, Ryan Renner, give you, Amanda Renner, the Sunrise… for you to show the world everyday so they all know I love you!

Ryan is so genuine and kind as you can clearly see.  He has shown me day in and day out what the true meaning of unconditional love is.  I am blesses beyond measure and I thank God for Ryan every day!  

STORY SIX

I have a picture I took last year when I was hiking that I think is perfect for Valentine’s Day.  There was no color anywhere that day.  It was cold and all the branches were brown and bare.  I was really feeling down, but when I turned around, I saw this beautiful red leaf all by itself.  That leaf looked like a heart and it let me know that God is with me all the time…even when everything around me is dark and dreary….or brown and bare! 
 
“Happy Valentines Day….from God!”