Happy Sweetest Day!

Have you ever hear of "Sweetest Day?" I had never in my life heard of it until October 19th, 2007. First...I'll tell you a little about it. I "googled" it and found this info from Wikipedia

Sweetest Day is an observance celebrated primarily in the Great Lakes region, and parts of the Northeast United States, on the third Saturday in October. It is described by Retail Confectioners International as an "occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember husbands, boyfriends, the sick, aged and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed." Sweetest Day has also been referred to as a "concocted promotion" created by the candy industry solely to increase sales of sweets.

I also found this on American Greetings Website-

In reality, the history of Sweetest Day dates back to 1922 when a man by the name of Herbert Birch Kingston wanted to bring cheer to local orphans, elderly, homebound people and others he felt may feel a little "forgotten" during other holidays. Kingston worked for a candy company in Cleveland, Ohio and started giving out candy to all the little "sweets" in the community. Following his initial efforts, local candy makers in Cleveland began to continue the tradition of giving and called it "The Sweetest Day of the Year" and distributed over 10,000 boxes of candy to over 26 Cleveland area charities their first year.

Regardless of whether it's a "concocted holiday" to sell candy or whatever...I think it's a great way to tell the sweethearts in your life that you love them. We often forget the ones that really make our days special. The ones that we take for granted. 

So....let me tell you how I found out about "Sweetest Day."

I haven't really introduced myself here on this blog...or told you my "story"....I will get to the whole "story" someday, but for now I will cut to the chase....

I got married on October 19th, 2002.....had a baby girl on December 19th, 2004 and then a son on July 31st, 2007....just a few short weeks after my son was born...my marriage ended. It wasn't my choice. I never wanted to raise my children in a broken home. But...looking back, it was the best decision for all of us and my kids are better off with happy parents. Not just parents who stuck it out for "the sake of the kids."

So...when Cash was just a couple of months old I actually started dating...I KNOW I KNOW!!! It was too soon....I know that....I knew it then, but I was so broken down, it was nice to have someone pay attention to me and be nice to me. It was just a "rebound"....or so everyone thought....We had been on a couple of dates...I felt like I was cheating...it was strange to be out with someone else...but I was in NO WAY, SHAPE or FORM cheating....my marriage was OVER, we were getting divorced. It ended several months before we officially called it quits, so from the outside it looked like I jumped right into a relationship.....but in my head I had already been seperated for many, many months so the "official" announcement to family and friends was just a formality of something that had already happened several months before....

So.... back to "Sweetest Day"......I have an amazing step-mom....She's actually only 10 years older than I am and I love her to pieces. She became a single mom when her daughter (my little step-sister) was only 3 or 4 years old....So she had walked in my shoes! I talked to her a lot in that first year. She had been my step-mom since 2002, but we really became close after my divorce. She knew my anniversary was coming up so she called me up one day and said "Do you need to come home? Do you need to come see your family?" YES!!! I needed my mom....I needed my dad....I needed my family! So...my step-mom bought me plane tickets and Chasey, Cash and I were on a plane that next week for a visit to Illinois (My entire family lives in Illinois....I have one aunt here in CA...and that's it...no other family here)....

So...on October 19th,  2007.....(what would have been my 5th anniversary)....I was at my aunt's house...and the flower delivery guy showed up with a gorgeous vase of flowers....They were for ME!! I thought for sure my friends or my mom or someone sent me flowers...to cheer me up on what WOULD have been my anniversary....but no....the card read "Happy Sweetest Day" I about died...I was so happy...I had only been on a few dates with James and he sent me flowers!! At my aunts house....in ILLINOIS!! (James is my uncles best friend...so he had connections in the family to get the address where I was staying!) That boy knows how to treat a woman....I thought he made up some random holiday of his own...I had NEVER heard of Sweetest Day....I thought it was so cute that he made up this holiday! (haha)....I still have the card....I carried it in my purse for a good 3 years...before finally transferring it to my underwear drawer...where I keep all of my "keepsakes." I keep everything...I'm a borderline hoarder! I didn't find out that "Sweetest Day" wasn't a made up "James" holiday until the next October...when I saw it on a calendar! Duh!

Fast forward 4 years.....That amazing man....is still in my life! He's loves me...he loves my kids even more than me (which...is a HUGE bonus). Sometimes people come into your life when you LEAST expect it...or when the LAST thing you need is a relationship. He did break up with me a few months into dating because he knew I needed "time"....time to be single...time to figure out my life....we ended up back together a few months later and are still going strong.

Some things are just meant to be!

Happy Sweetest Day! 

ps- Remember when I said I felt like I was cheating? The first couple of times that we went out I would tell the babysitter..."I'm going out with Kimberly!"

-Mel