Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine's Day this year.
I saw a picture on facebook, posted by a former professor. It was ashes sprinkled into the shape of a heart. Quite fitting--love and loss often go hand in hand.
My grandmother died on Valentine's Day, 3 years ago. I thought of her today, and of the generations of women in my family. The common theme seems to be that none of them seemed to have been happily married. My grandmother, in particular, had a husband who was unfaithful--they finally divorced later in life.
My Lyft driver told me she was a single mother working 3 jobs to support herself and her 6-year-old son. "Today, I'm gonna treat myself honey," she said. "That's what we single ladies do!"
I've decided not to give anything up for Lent this year. Instead, I am seeking to enrich my life with life-giving practices and thought patterns. And as I treat myself lovingly, I may find, along the way, that things that I should be giving up fall by the wayside on their own.
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