Lovely Senorita

I thought I would write profound thoughts about Valentine's Day, the most mixed up of holidays. Instead, I finished a craft project started by Big Guy's mom Lovely Senorita. She was at her finest with a glue gun in one hand and sequins in the other. She never saw a project that couldn't be made better with a really big bow or a generous splash of glitter. And she loved to shower her children and grandchildren with handmade, glitzy gifts. But 18 years ago, the final stages of lung cancer forced Lovely Senorita to set aside her crafting. She died as Birdie fluttered in my womb, still six months from birth. Lovely Senorita started a first gift for Birdie, but she couldn't finish it. After her death, I received the green-painted wooden egg. It needed two photo cut-outs of Birdie's smiling face to transform it into the Christmas ornament Lovely Senorita envisioned. But it was springtime, Birdie wasn't here yet and I was chasing after toddler Daisy. I tucked away the ornament and forgot about it. Over the years, it floated to the top of my squirreled away stuff, but never around Christmas. Last night, I helped Birdie decorate a Valentine's Day box for school. Lovely Senorita would have adored Birdie's pink and red heart fabric-covered box with its big white bow. Although, in fairness, Lovely Senorita would have like it even better with glitter and faux jewels. This morning, I found the unfinished ornament. I dusted it off and glued on the photos. I wrapped it for Birdie to open. Happy Valentine's Day Birdie, with love from Lovely Senorita.