Week 43 - a virtual everything in Liverepool





Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Olivia - Liverpool, UK


Did you know that the oldest surviving Valentine’s poem was composed from a cold prison cell in the Tower of London? 


In 1416, at the height of the French and English wars, 21-year-old nobleman Charles Duke of Orleans wrote the poem to his wife whilst imprisoned by the English:

God forgives him who has estranged

Me from you for the whole year.

I am already sick of love,

My very gentle Valentine.






I suspect that a lot of us were able to relate to the poor Duke this Valentine’s Day. 


With the UK is still under full lockdown rules, most of us are feeling the pain of being cooped up and isolated from our loved ones. 

 



Due to the current ban on household mixing, I celebrated a virtual Valentine’s Day this year. My long-distance boyfriend and I posted our cards and gifts to each other and opened them on Facetime. 



It was a dismal day for us, as we haven’t seen each other in person since before Christmas, and don’t know when the laws will change. 


Whether single, partnered, or married, loneliness is something that we’ve all felt this year. There has been a big gap between our actual versus our desired level of connection with others.


The day before Valentine’s day happens to be my birthday. With no social engagements to look forward to, I had planned to spend the day in my PJs. 



However, I was delighted when a few friends and family members surprised me with doorstep visits throughout the day.


It meant so much that they had ventured out to see me in the cold, snowy weather and I felt really loved.


Starting at my new job this week has been tiring but wonderful. My new colleagues did their very best to make me feel welcome and supported, and it has been a great fit with the organization.

 

The kindness of others is proof that there is always love around us - it’s just not always in the romantic form that the pop songs tell us to seek it in.


So, whether you were belting out All You Need Is Love this week, or felt more like a member of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club, one thing is for certain. That is the need to appreciate all of our relationships and celebrate love in its many forms.






 


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