You Can Stand Under My Umbrella

(source: WeHeartIt)

It's a rainy Valentine's Day in Pittsburgh, which makes all the pink fluffiness of this holiday look so silly. Because it IS silly. I'd wager that anyone reading this blog would probably agree Commercial V-Day has very little to do with actual love. Am I right? I started this day super grumpy (over-slept, forgot to mail valentines, accidentally spit on myself, etc.), but I think I've found the silver lining to this cloudy day regardless. My loves. And they a numerous...

Did you know that Rhianna song... you know, you can stand under my umbrella ella ella... wasn't written for a boy? It was for her best friend.

So I thought "Hey, for Valentine's day I should list all the people I love & tell them why!" But that task would take until NEXT Valentine's day to list them all. Isn't that a delightful problem to have? So many people you love that you literally can't list them all? Yes indeed, I'm a lucky girl with lots of love in her life.

So instead of every individual, I'll have to group them up. And as I typed this I got a little teary-eyed....

The Loves of My Life:

The Playmates - These are my people who I spend the most time with. Who include me in their day-to-day. Who share a life with me. The people who I go out with, who I stay in with, go on adventures with, & regain my sanity with.

The Huggers - These people are always ready with a good squeeze. I used to hate to be touched, as weird as that is, but these people didn't take no for an answer & just pour on the affection. I didn't even realize how needed that was until they were in my life.

The Talkers - These people answer the phone with "Hey, Beautiful!" or leave sweet comments here or send text messages at just the right time to tell me they're thinking of me. Their words have more than once been a life raft during bad times & made me light up during good times.

The Siblings - These are the people who have been like family for a long time, who know all the stories & all the flaws. Sometimes I don't see these people as often as I wish, but when we are together it's like they've always been here. They're my blood, biology has nothing to do with family.

The Shared Umbrellas - These people are always a great support to me in the midst of having their own load to carry. To say you can stand under my umbrella means it's raining here too, but there's still room for you. It means so much to me when someone is fighting their own battle & still takes the time to back you up with yours. I hope I'm able to reciprocate the same for them.

The Safety Nets - These are the people who protect me. Total independence would be a lonely state, it's good to need other people & be needed in return. And these are good people to work with because they say "go ahead & try, I'll be here to make sure you can't fail". The image of 'having it all together' fills me with terror because I know I can't live up to it, but as a team I feel like we can.

The Classmates - These are the people who challenge me, teach me, & grow with me. We learn from each other & with each other, & we all become better in the process. They are my muses, my professors, my study groups, and my class clowns. They give life substance and depth.

The Mom - She gets her own category. She's everything.