Yesterday afternoon we were driving home from work when we saw a school bus ahead of us. Shortly thereafter it turned on its flashing lights and pulled over to drop off children. As we sat behind the bus, I noticed two beautiful girls getting off the bus and I was instantly smitten. Actually, I had been smitten by those girls before. They are our granddaughters. It amazes me that they are old enough to ride the bus with confidence and that they can go through a whole day of school and still have energy to bound off of the bus and report excitedly to their mother and baby brother all that has happened that day in school. The kindergartener is an old hand at riding the bus. She rode a bus to and from all day-long preschool last year when she was only 4. Now she rides with her sister and they share the experience, though I notice that sometimes they don’t sit in the same row on the bus. They have friends their own age who ride the bus as well.

That five-year-old is now learning to read and write and she pretty much kept up with her older sister when they were writing Valentines to send to shut-in members of our church over the weekend. Between the two of them they made about 25 Valentines. The older sister wrote: “Roses are red. Violets are blue. Candy is Sweet. And so are you!” in most of the cards she made. The younger one printed “I love you!” in most of hers. Both of them decorated their cards with doilies, stickers, and ribbon.

The Faith Formation Board at the church provided children and families with addressed and stamped envelopes and Valentine-making supplies. As our granddaughters were making cards, they asked Susan to tell them about the people for whom they were making cards. The five-year-old wanted to make cards for families, but she asked about one envelope that was an elderly gentleman. Susan told her, “He is an older gentleman and he can’t get out very much because he is afraid of catching Covid. Last year he and his wife took care of their adult daughter because she was very sick. The daughter died and now he is very lonely.” The child immediately pushed aside other Valentines to make a card for that “old man.” She put lots and lots of hearts on the card and when it was filled up, she decorated the envelope with more stickers and ribbons. It cost and extra 40 cents to mail it because it was so thick. Then, last Sunday, as they were making a few more cards, she asked Susan, “Is it OK if I tell my Mom about the old man?” “Of course,” was the reply. She proceeded to tell her mom how she made a special Valentine for an old man because she didn’t want him to be lonely any more. Compassion for a stranger is a pretty advanced moral stance. According to the psychologist Robert Coles, children often don’t develop such compassion until they enter their teenage years.

That five-year-old wrote, “I Susan because she is super pretty!” on her Birthday note to Susan last week.

You can see why I am smitten. Those children speak the truth. In a five-year-old’s eyes, a 72-year-old grandma who volunteers in her classroom each week is “super pretty.” I agree with her. She is super pretty. I realize that I am terribly biased, but she is the most beautiful woman I have ever met.

On the one hand, we don’t make much of a deal about Valentine’s Day at our house. There was no special dinner and no special dessert. We had enjoyed our share of cake last week with all of the birthdays. I didn’t purchase flowers or a card for Susan, preferring to tell her face-to-face of my love and admiration. We’ve been celebrating Valentines Day that way for years. We don’t need to spend money to express our love. And we have a tendency to have to work on that particular holiday, which can make for busy times.

On the other hand, we happen to love the traditions of the Day and have deep appreciation for a holiday that focuses on love. Like some other saints, it is difficult to determine which historical figure is the real St. Valentine. Popular opinion holds it that the one for whom we celebrate the holiday was martyred for performing illegal weddings before Christianity was a legal religion in Rome. It makes a good story.

In celebration of the day, we tried to sneak a container of flowers onto the porch of a friend who was widowed last summer. She caught us, removing the anonymity of the gift. I just said, “Bert told me to deliver these.” That netted a big smile and a hug.

Love is worth celebrating and Love never ends. I hope that a card for an old man and a few flowers for a grieving widow help to remind them that they are loved. I wish I could think of ways to remind earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey that they are loved. I wish I could think of ways to tell people who are temporarily houseless that they are loved. I wish I could tell the street teens who sometimes hang out in the church parking lot that they are loved.

I find that I make things way to complex, and am less articulate than a five-year-old when I find myself face to face with people in need. I worry too much and speak too much and fail to be direct. Fortunately for me, I’m married to a grandma who is not only super pretty, but who has devoted her life to teaching generations of children about compassion for strangers. It’s a good thing. And yes, she is super pretty!