Valentine's Far From Home

"What shall we make grandma and grandpa for Valentine's Day?"

This is an oft-repeated question as February 14th draws near; and despite being another highly commercialized holiday, it is still a nice way for geographically separated families to touch base.

Although e-mail is invaluable, homemade cards from grandchildren - gluey, misspelt and smudged, delivered in crumpled envelopes with upsidedown stamps - are the wishes that will be caressed by gentle hands, hung on the fridge under hatted cow magnets, and proudly shown to passers-by.

My own daughter knows that her grandma is a jigsaw puzzle expert, so she glued a teddy bear picture to a red construction paper heart, with little messages of love written around the periphery. With great care, tongue tip protruding to steady her hand, she then cut the artwork into several large pieces. Proudly, dumping her homemade puzzle into an envelope, we went to the post office hand in hand.

We press flowers, collected on warm walks and summer picnics, haphazardly collecting them in any book on hand. It's always a lovely treat when fragile petals float from a page we're reading, and sometimes we glue these decorations of nature to homemade Valentine's Day cards sharing colorful memories of spring.

Children grow up fast, and grandparents miss the little things - like a first lost tooth, a new smile. One fun way to send pictures is to decorate cards with sunshines and flowers, replacing round centers with cut-out faces of the grandkids. There's no better way to wish the folks Happy Valentine's Day than to have a garden of your children's faces beaming up at them.