I Love Love

This is the first Valentine’s Day that I’ve ever felt love on so many levels – unconditional love from my children, enduring love from my friends, self love and romantic love from my loyal hubby. Honestly, I was most surprised by the way self-love can lead to enduring love from friendships.

For the first time in over 10 years (after 13 kids), six best friends from high school spent 48 hours together allowing themselves to lean into any whim, desire or inclination. We have been friends for 25 years and our bond has endured not only because of our shared formative experiences, but also because now at 40, we’ve finally prioritized ourselves.

We had grand plans at the Grand Geneva resort, but a quaint NYC-themed AirBnB in downtown Lake Geneva suited our minimal expectations much better.  Making and canceling plans feels so liberating. I make plans to satisfy my need to have a plan and feel anticipation, but then allow myself the grace to make a decision in the moment based on my gut, the weather, my mood or my energy level.  Our bodies and hearts were telling us what we already knew – we were tired, overworked, uninspired and desperate for connection, validation, and relaxation. Almost immediately, we fell back into our old patterns – poking fun at each others’ personality differences and laughing until we cried. But something was different. We’ve had many different life experiences, relationships and situations. And since we’ve all had kids, the hearty laughter now elicits a pee, along with tears. Our bodies and interest may have changed, but at the core, our personalities were the same and our senses of humor, still very immature.

We talked holistic health, kids, fitness, past lives, pre-marital sexual escapades and everything in between.  A few of us really connected on holistic wellness, all taking different paths to get there, but the others are very analytical and just couldn’t get on board with our abstract views on health.

It truly was a perfect weekend, on so many levels. Returning home to the affection of my kids was the icing on the cake. And my husband showing his love by putting up with my moodiness and making me dinner. Acts of service is my love language all the way. Only two months in, I am really loving this new decade of life.

We did finally leave our room to go to the spa at Grand Geneva. It was heavenly….I highly recommend it.