My gift to you this Valentine's Day is the reminder that love can and does last a long time. So instead of red roses and chocolates I give to you this story of that kind of love.

Thankfully, I can tell you that I experienced a love like that; it lasted for 47 years -- still not nearly long enough. So, today, I chose this column, a favorite from the past, to tell you about LOVE, the lasting kind.

One spring evening I noticed this old couple -- strangers to me -- shuffling along at a snail's pace in a mall parking lot. She, a dignified, white-haired lady, shoulders protected from the chill of early spring, by a soft white sweater. Thin and quite bent over, she proceeded carefully.

At her side, a gentleman walked with the aid of a cane, still carefully guiding her along as he held firmly to her arm, matching his steps to hers. To me it was a perfect example of love in its gentlest form.

In this old man's eyes, no doubt this bent old woman walking beside him was still tall and straight, still beautiful, still his beloved -- the light of his long life.

It has been a lot of years since my own love and I watched this couple walking through the spacious parking lot. Even then, being a romantic at heart, I immediately visualized how it might have been for them as they met and soon fell in love. It may even have been love at first sight.

In my imagination there followed visions of a traditional walk down a church aisle. Her then slim strong body covered in creamy satin, smiling shyly at the young man waiting rather nervously at the front of the church. There they promised to love each other forever, through sickness and health, until death would eventually part them.

She probably bore him several children. Through those years she saw that his meals were lovingly made, his clothes always clean and well-pressed. They cared for each other through lean years and good ones while together they made an ordinary house into a home full of love as they shared trials and perhaps even some hardships. If they were like most couples they probably lived through some large arguments and small disagreements but they survived it -- all together.

Those two old folks had lived for each other for the better part of their long lives. No doubt they have seen some friends and loved ones leave this old world behind but side by side they drew strength from each other.

Now they share the problems and infirmities of old age. Someday, one will be left to face a small portion of life alone again but many years ago they promised God to love and honor each other until death parted them -- and they kept that promise.

To me, that is what true love is all about.

I hope you have a "love"-ly Valentine's Day; may you share it with someone you love.

I was living in England and I had a very professional job as marketing a promotions manager for a top leisure company (you know, hair in a bun, high heel, suit wearing, champagne drinking type!). I was working on restyling a mega club and I ordered a new lighting and sound system............well the day it started being installed I spotted a pair of legs on a ladder that would warm even the coldest heart. All I could see for days from my office was these legs ending in a snug fitting pair of Billabong boardies. I had to go and find out who they belonged to........they belonged to the cutest Aussie in England! When we made eye contact "it" was definitely THERE!! But being the professional boss that I was, there was NO room for fraternising with the hired help!! Especially if the hired help came in the form of a young Aussie surfie looking type!

He kept asking me out and I said no every time. Until one day (3 months later) I agreed just because he was so nice and sweet and I thought it would just be a one off..............it wasn't. After a fantastic night of guitar playing, video watching laughing bliss, we drove down to the video store to drop the video off and I ran in to the news agency to buy a lottery ticket because it was a mega draw. In England it is well known that there is a 1 in 44 MILLION chance of winning the lottery. He decided to run in and get a ticket too........and to our complete and utter amazement.......we had chosen EXACTLY THE SAME NUMBERS! I knew then and so did he that we had just won our very own lottery.

Today, 6 years later, I have moved here to Bunbury with the love of my life, we are happily married and live a wonderful life together. And it all started with a pair of legs on a ladder..........and a 1 in 44 million chance of a lottery win. Even if there was no money in the win, what we won that day by fate or a higher power was each other and no amount of money could buy what we have!

True love has a special healing effect that no even medicine can ever have. Mydearvalentine offers a romantic and soulful account of a true love story specially meant for lovers to share and enjoy on the occasion of Valentine's Day.

True love is hard to find and difficult to recognize. Some may call it luck and some may call it a decision. But what ever it is, the consensus is that no one is ever left alone and no one is totally unworthy of getting love. One just has to find out the right person who will appreciate one's qualities. If partners do not appreciate each other's efforts, the whole idea of being together becomes meaningless. At times, two people who are mere acquaintances may have wrong impressions about each other.

So, it is important on their part to know each other properly before jumping to any conclusions. It is equally important for friends to be able to relate to each other before they graduate as lovers.
This anonymous story is a beautiful example of a true love story that teaches us to believe in love when everything else is over. People often lose faith in the healing effect of love and start trying to find a lover in daily advertisements and Internet sites, etc. What they forget, however, is that love is something that happens when least expected and that one can find love anywhere, even right below their nose when they are looking for it elsewhere.

After Vivian had a divorce with her husband Allan and their fifty years of marriage ended in a fiasco with her husband blaming her for everything and calling her unworthy and telling her that she will never find another man to live with her, Vivian was devastated and had completely lost her sense of self-worth. She didn't want to believe any one ever again. It was getting tough for her to cope with this loss in her life. More than losing her marriage, she seemed to have lost her self-esteem. Gradually, she started taking up healing courses from certain agencies and therapy groups, which helped divorce victims and those who had lost their lovers to death. After two or three years, she gradually started to heal and her friends suggested she go out with them to the singles clubs and look for a partner with whom she can be friends and share some quality time. She even started checking out the local newspapers for the singles advertisements and applied for a few guys. But her experiences with some of those guys were so disgusting that in the next few days she gave up on her search for a lover or friend. Most guys she had met wanted slim and beautiful girls. She had little chance of attracting them.

Finally she gave up all hopes of finding a lover and started concentrating more on her life and trying to come to terms with her single-hood. She started working in one of the therapy groups in order to help divorce victims like herself to heal; she started working out in a gym; she started working with a farm as a consultant. She was thus getting on fairly well when love stepped into her life and changed everything. Her younger son Ryan, who was staying else where for his education, had asked her to send him the addresses of a few of his friends, as he needed to get in touch with them for study purposes. While trying to find out the contacts he had asked for, she came across Diana's address, one of his old friends in the neighborhood. On talking to Diana she came to know about her mother's demise. Diana asked Vivian if she could help her father Richard get admitted in the therapy group where she worked so that he would be able to come to terms with the loss in his life. Vivian agreed to do so.

Her first meeting with Richard left Vivian with a pretty unfavorable impression; he seemed quite rough and unfriendly. Similarly, Richard also found Vivian quite unapproachable. The magic happened and things clicked once they started going out together for the therapy sessions. Gradually, they learnt to relate to each other's grief and loss. Richard developed a soft corner for Vivian and conveyed his feelings to her before she went for her elder son's wedding. Once Diana was married and settled in her life, Richard and Vivian also married and they lived happily ever after. So in real life, too, people experience the “and they lived happily ever after” magic.

Valentine ideas, if they are good and appeal to your beloved can change the equation of your love life for all the time to come. This is because your Valentines Day ideas that get reflected in your Valentine's Day gifts reveal the intensity of your emotion. So, while with the valentine ideas of giving flowers and cards you can play safe, giving expression to some unique Valentine's Day ideas may help in establishing your identity instantly.

Valentine Gift Baskets In your valentine gift basket you have to collect all those things that are favorites of your beloved. Besides you have to include some Valentines Day gift ideas that truly reflect your feelings of love and care. If your valentine ideas are innovative and unique it will impress him or her most.

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas
And don't hesitate to take aid of awesome Valentine Day Gift Ideas that are sure to instill good enough confidence in you so as to make you sashay over the ground of your love proposals. No wonder your own promptness to coddle your sweetheart is sure to bring more and more love your way. Sift through the following Valentine ideas in order to make Valentine's Day the luckiest day for you.

Valentine's Day Ideas

* Instead of voicing the usual “I Love You” in the same old-fashioned way, try to play with words to see their effect and speak out everything that promises to linger on in the memory forever.

* Make sure to spend loads of time together filled with candlelight dinners and clandestine visits to romantic spots.

* Fill your surrounding atmosphere with the melody of romantic musical tracks that are free from noisy disturbance and ties the lovers with the music of love.

* If your sweetheart finds gadgets and gizmos interesting, gift the most appealing one for him or her.

* Gifting a nice cell phone to your beloved would promise to keep both of you on all-time communication mode.

* Though chocolates and greeting cards seem to be a bit run-of-the-mill, they can never go out from the Valentine gift-giving tradition and they will be attracting more and more lovers in all times to come.

* Moreover, gifting groovy or traditional apparel is always considered to be fashionable because they keep the remembrance of gift and gift giver alive.

* Also, scented bouquets of roses, tulips and discrete colorful flowers work wonders in turning the romantic mood on. So, don't forget to present way before you proceed for all your endeavors.