Our Valentine’s day began at 2:30am in Scottsdale, Arizona, where the sun winters along with a bunch of other Michiganders. It was a short trip measured in hours rather than days, spent in a fortress of a five star resort that my wife found on the clearance rack of a travel site, marked down enough for us to look the part without paying full price. Speaking of which, the Lululemon outlet in Phoenix sells winter coats at a remarkable discount that we found both offensive and exciting. Offensive because why would an Arizona resident want a thick winter coat and exciting because she ended up wearing it on Wednesday during an outdoor lunch on a shaded patio. Phoenix Palm trees waved at us as if to say “if you think this is nice, come on over in July when it’s so hot that birds burst into flames and nuns openly swear on the streets of melting asphalt. Granted, I got that line from a Dave Barry article, but it fits the bill perfectly.

Anyway, we had to leave for the airport at 3am this morning. Combined with the comparatively mild time change of 2 hours, this is more than enough to exhaust us after a day of traveling. As I write this, the sun is making an appearance and coaxing the snow we’ve been storing on our driveway for three weeks to finally turn back to liquid. I’m sure there’s concrete under there someplace, but I won’t be convinced the whole driveway is still there until sometime in March. Arizonans don’t have this problem. They are an enchanting people living in a land of enchantment, which happens to be New Mexico’s slogan, which could also be “we’re next to Arizona” or “home of Breaking Bad.”

3am. Fill up the rental at the Circle K. The door is propped open because it’s room temperature and there’s no need to shield oneself from the elements, at least not on Valentine’s Day. The convenience store features Reeses hearts and red underwear folded into a rose. Both of these convenience items count as last minute gifts, because it’s hard to forget to pick up 44 ounces of Mountain Dew but easy to forget the one you love. At this juncture, both challenges are met and resolved.

Brittany and I didn’t even realize it was Valentine’s Day until we got on the shuttle that runs (every seven minutes) between the parking structure and the Sky Harbor Airport. When the bus doors opened, a couple from Minnesota, a flight attendant bound to work a flight to Barcelona, and my Valentine and I stepped aboard a magic love mobile. The driver had “Masterpiece” by Atlantic Starr cranked on the radio. He changed the interior lights from commercial cold to Valentines pink. And he handed out heart-shaped suckers to everyone on the shuttle except for me. The driver looked at me and said “I hope you get something better for Valentine’s Day,” and I still don’t know what exactly he meant by that.

Marvin Gaye was next on the playlist as me, my wife, our fellow passengers, and Cupid drove us to the Southwest gate. It was, in a word, beautiful. Let me tell you why: a guy who drives a shuttle back and forth a billion times a day decided to make this day special for his passengers. He’d have every reason to make it another mundane day of roundtrips back and forth for hours. Not once did I think to myself “I hope the driver sets up the bus like a well-lit love disco”, and yet, he did.

Brittany ate the heart shaped candy somewhere over Kansas.

Meanwhile, she’s asleep on the couch and I’m getting ready for Sunday, as most pastors do around this time every Saturday evening.

What made it a great Valentine’s Day?

First off, every day is like Valentine’s Day with her. I mean that — but I mean it in the widest spectrum possible. Cartoon hearts floating into the air some days, and airport shuttles with rattling speakers and seats on other days. We love each other every day, no matter the situation, no matter what life brings us. It’s what you make of it that matters.

That being said, we spent a few days in a far away land, just the two of us, and made memories that will last a lifetime. Yes, today is Valentine’s Day, but Wednesday-Friday was Valentine’s Day observed as we spent time together not in parent mode, not in work mode, not in day to day, but as a married couple. Truly as each other’s Valentines.

I got her some flowers for her today. And I openly admit I got them from a gas station. But it was a really nice one.

“Iv’e found a masterpiece in you
A work of art, it’s true
And I treasure you, my love…”