Valentine’s Day 2025

Happy Valentine’s Day to my beautiful wife, Lea. This is what? Our eleventh Valentine’s Day? It’s amazing how fast time flies. This post is a direct message to Lea. Everyone else can feel free to read it if they want, but it’s for Lea! I don’t feel this way about the rest of you. It’s a different kind of love.

Lea,

I have to admit I woke up a little emotional today and I don’t know why. I woke up thinking about you and how lucky I am to have you in my life. All these thoughts started running through my head as I sat on the edge of our bed and I thought “I better wake up, get downstairs and start writing before I lose all of this.” So as I write this I’m eating a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and watching Mr. O on the monitor.

I am also writing this with a severely injured thumb, so that’s how you know I love you! For those wondering, I sliced my thumb on a can of refried beans last night. To quote Michael Scott: “Bam! Blood everywhere.” It hurts but I am writing through the pain. 

Enough about me though. This post is about you. You have been by my side as my best friend for twelve years (the first year we were actually just friends, but that’s for everyone else. You know that already. You know everything!). When we met we were just kids. Our younger selves would have hated to admit that, but it’s true. We didn’t know where our friendship would take us but we both knew we wanted to be together and that was enough. 

Over the years we’ve been blessed to watch each other grow and figure out who we are individually. It’s been so incredible to see you turn into the woman you are now. Through all the challenges, whether it was health related, the loss of so many loved ones, getting your masters, going through the adoption process, figuring out how to be a parent, or bandaging up my wounds every time I cut myself in our kitchen, you have shown such great strength and perseverance. You’re an inspiration to me and a wonderful example for Mr. O. I hope he’s just like you when it comes to overcoming obstacles in life.

Lea, you mean so much to me. If I didn’t have you by my side all of these years I don’t know where I would be. You push me every day to be better. You’re as loyal as they come and have stuck by me through the worst of times and I am forever grateful for that. I have something in my notes here that I wrote a while ago and I wasn’t sure when or how I wanted to write about it, but I guess now is as good a time as ever, right? And I don’t know if it even makes sense, I quickly wrote it down one day. 

I have holes in my heart from those we’ve lost. But Lea and Oliver take up so much room in my heart that I am okay. I’m not as broken as you would think. I still have those holes, but they’re smaller than they once were because of them.

I still remember the days after Yiorgo (my brother) passed away, and how you slept on the floor next to the couch I was on for days (I did offer to switch with you but you said no. You also had a bed upstairs to sleep in but you refused). You just wanted to be there for me in any way possible. I felt so loved and comforted in those moments. 

Lea, you are an incredible woman, mother and wife. I am so blessed to have you in my life for so long. You truly know me and you know what I need even when I don’t say it. It’s like you can sense what’s going on with me. For example, last year was a challenging one in regards to my faith. I try and I try to be an Orthodox Christian. I try to fast, I try to read the books of the Saints, I try to pray and go to church, but it’s difficult. I was really down about it and then Christmas season came along and you gave me an early gift out of the blue. I don’t know how you knew I needed it then, or how you knew I needed it at all, but you knew. 

You gave me this little book The Ultimate Bible Guide, and it honestly wasn’t even the book that I really needed (although I enjoy it and it is helpful). Inside the cover you wrote “Never lose faith” and signed it with a heart next to your name. I’m not sure how you knew, but that was exactly what I needed at the time. It was perfect. You are perfect. You know me better than I know myself. That inspired me to try even harder, which is why I’ve been pushing for us to go to church more in the last few months. I know it’s hard with the little guy and his nap schedule and illnesses going around, but at least I am trying and that is thanks to you. 

I guess to sum it up, you are the best. This probably could have been a shorter post because that’s what I’ve been trying to say this whole time, but you deserve more than one sentence. You are my best friend and I don’t know what I would do without you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and continue to do for our family. You’ve sacrificed a lot to be with me. You moved away from your family after graduating college to be with me, you sacrificed your full-time job and started working part-time so you could take care of our son. You’ve done so much for me, and for Oliver. This post can go on forever, but I need to wrap it up.

Lea, I love you so much. Happy Valentine’s Day. I’ll see you when you wake up (it’s 5am as I write this). 

Love, 

Peter