Be my Valentine!!

This being a special day and all,I was thinking about writing something romantic-cliched as it might be.But this is going to be short post because the couple in question are probably in their late seventies and I almost wonder if they are a couple!!
She is our neighbor and like a good neighbor my older son helps her put her garbage out and chats with her and she, in return, is his proxy Grandma.She spoils him by buying him things for his birthday and Christmas and if he sells anything to make money for the Scouts-she is his top buyer.Popcorn? Atleast $70.00 worth.Wreaths? Bring it on!!
She has lived here from even before we moved here(she lost her husband the year they moved to this house) and has been getting on in years and in these eleven years, I have seen her age tremendously. She has skin cancer and is undergoing treatment and seems to be doing okay.
And, most important of all, she has a boyfriend!! Emmanuel really gets worked up if I use the term."No,Mom!!", he goes,"Bob is just her friend!!"-Okay boyo!!
She still works and so is not home in the daytime.But evenings she comes home,sometimes alone and sometimes, with Bob.Bob is a handsome old fella who always waves at the kids and smiles at us when he drives by our house.Other than that, we know nothing about the old man.
But everyday, I wake up at 6.00  in the morning and come downstairs.When I pick up the newspaper off my porch, most days, I see Bob driving up to her place.It is still winter and it is dark out there, so his headlights make it known that  Bob is here. It is far too cold and dark for anyone to be out there, but he does it every single day-for a few years now.
With all this frenzy of today's significance, Bob's devotion spellbinds me.They are both old, but seem to do well together.But they do not stay together.She, I know has kids who live an hour away and I am assuming Bob has kids too, but they have carved out this relationship and seem to have a good time together.
Who says love needs to be fresh and young and supple and macho and flowers and chocolate?Love can also be frail and needy and slow and old and ill and helpless.Maybe the former looks far more appealing than the latter, but wouldn't we all want both?
Any collaborative activity requires effort -more so if you plan on sharing your life with the collaborator.So here's to everyone in love.May the head spinning, awe inducing days of new love give way to those tranquil, unassuming, all-accepting days of everlasting love!Sappy eh?!