Sunrise, Pink Skies

This Valentine’s Day looked a lot different than it has in nearly twenty years, y’all.

As I moved through the day, I marveled at its simplicity. After walking through the fire—the past ten years shaking me, the last five testing me, and these past two completely reshaping me—Valentine’s Day wasn’t exactly on my radar. Add in a week of battling the flu, and, well… let’s just say, I wasn’t exactly throwing rose petals around.

And yet… love still found me.

Because I’ve decided to vibrate that way, come what may.

It found me in a pair of yellow gummy bear earrings, handcrafted by a local artist at a small downtown shop. It trailed me through this sweetheart of a town, in and out of boutiques, wrapping itself around me like a favorite melody.

Love sang to me—literally. As I slipped in my earbuds and browsed, Honey Brown’s Texas Angel played:

“Smile for me, my Texas Angel, it’ll be alright.”

That song. That voice. It took me straight back to 1994, when Honey Brown played at my hometown’s Birthday Bash. My teenage heart had just been stomped on, and I stood at the edge of the stage, feeling wrecked. Then the first notes hit, and the music washed over me like healing water. The lead singer looked my way, and for a few fleeting minutes, the world melted. The song felt like it was written just for me, and it settled something deep inside.

And here I was again, all these years later, feeling that same peace soak in. Love sings.

It stood with me in the mirror as I grinned, admiring how the perfect yellow bra matched my new earrings and how my exquisitely comfy jeans seemed tailored just for me.

Love found me writing at the beer garden near my new place, nestled in our little college town. It flickered in the firelight as I crunched on artisan-made seaweed peanuts and sipped The Trailhead’s newest award-winning brew. It swayed in the background, woven into the music that drifted through the night—songs that felt like they were meant for me.

Love rode with me home. Let me sink into a hot bath. Lit the candles, casting amber light, I like to call a Warm Whiskey Glow. It curled up with me as I pulled out my favorite book, exhaled, and let the day settle.

Because love is everywhere. It’s the wind beneath my wings. The song I’ll always sing. Love is.

Not once did I feel alone. Not once did I feel unnoticed, forgotten, or ignored.

LeiLaRein Grace