February 10, 2022
Not Everyone has a Happy Valentine’s Day
Monday is Valentine’s Day, full of hearts and flowers, chocolate and champagne. It’s the time we are meant to show our love for our partners and our sweethearts.
I know that not everyone has a partner or a sweetheart. For some that don’t, it can be a sad day — a reminder of loneliness or lost love.
Here is the thing: there isn’t just one kind of love. In English, unlike many other languages, we pretty much only have the one word — love — to describe many feelings. Love can describe deep friendships, innate feelings for siblings, parents for their children, and children for their parents. And yes, we love our pets too.
I have written before about whether our pets love us. I concluded that it really doesn’t matter. It feels like they love us and we certainly love them.
So, if you’re lucky enough to have a pet and you are feeling a bit sad this Valentine’s Day, think about what you give and what you get from your pet.
That’s love too.
Bruce Roney
President & CEO