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Love is a Many Splendored Thing!

by ‎02-04-2016 07:12 PM - edited ‎02-04-2016 07:20 PM

Love is a many splendored thing. (Where did that saying come from? No matter. I like it.)

 

Valentine's Day is in a few weeks. I’m not a huge fan. I didn’t like it when I was single, and I don’t need it now that I’m married. That said, I do think now is a crafty -lever-opportune time to celebrate the L word. So I am. Who do I love, and why? (God not included) It’s gotten me to thinking. So here is my Top Ten list … on the big red heart and where mine beats.

 

1) I love my best friends from high school. I moved to a suburban Michigan high school in the 10th grade, from Mexico (yes, the country) and it was no easy task fitting in and finding friends. Let it be said, I was never the popular girl or the social standout growing up so my move to a posh high school late in teenage-don was surely a pseudo-teenage-death sentence. Instead, I found the girls who would be my family, my confidants, my everything, for life. Laurie, Christine, Jenny, Kathy, Erika, God blessed me beyond measure with super cool, loving, embracing, welcoming, talented and awesome girls, in high school. They are my heart. And I moved to NYC after college with one of them, to start my career. Which is legend and history in and of itself. Smiley Happy

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2) I love Mexico City, the fact that God and my dad brought it into my reality and path   as a kid, is one of the greatest treasures in my life. It’s what turned me into an         international kid and soul, and it gave my life texture in ways I could not have imagined. As it pertains to love, as a result of living in MX from 11-15yrs old, my two first loves were in Mexico. Andre Araiz, and Jose Abizaid. They both hold a place in my childhood heart that is beyond magical. Forget that I was merely 12 or 13, at the time, it felt life changing. Ha.

3) I love my childhood pooches. I grew up with a dog named Jiggs. I have memories in the 80’s (before moving to Mexico) of him being senile, suffering from cataracts, and peeing uncontrollably in every corner of the house bc he was old, blind, and well, had to go. I don’t even think he liked me that much bc, again, he was old and blind and surely couldn’t see me. Nonetheless, he is the first dog I ever had, and it delights me that Robert Lee Morris also had a dog named Jiggs (how random is that). But beyond Jiggs, we have always been a dog family, and I love them. My job keeps me from having one bc it is more work and commitment than I can handle, but I miss having a pooch. After Jiggs, there was Wallstreet. A mutt we adopted. Then Kaylee, a sheltie, followed by Camden, Chapps (both have crossed the dog rainbow) and now, my mom and dad have adopted Henley who used to be my brother's, until he and his family moved to Paris and my parents took Henley into their home to save him from life in a crowded Parisian apartment with no backyard.

 

4) I love my little dudes who are my niece and nephew. It goes without saying that my heart lives somewhat in Paris, because that is where my niece and nephew live. Sloane (10yrs) and Tripp (4yrs). Joe and I will be parents someday but until then, I live vicariously through my little dudes who are my heart walking on earth with arms and legs. The things they say make my heart swell and burst. The things they do send me into hysterics or meltdown. Either way, it is something I love. I could look at pictures of kids all day long bc their sheer innocence and silliness, their candor and unfilteredness is the most delightfully encouraging thing on earth.

 

5) I love those people who gave me a chance in TV. I moved to Nyc after college, and landed a gig as a Page (paid intern) in a very selective CBS program aimed at developing people who wanted to break into broadcasting. A woman who also worked in the theater, interviewed me. I met with her literally in a theater. Her name was Carmen. I love her because she gave me a chance. later, Allen Alter, now with the CBS show 48HRS, gave me a chance by hiring me as his Assistant. And Walt Leiding, who I also love, gave me a chance, by editing my small humble demo reel so that I could send it to local news stations and get a job as a Reporter. I wasn't any good, but people believed in me, and that helped me sport my wings.

 

6) I love my Dad. of course I love my Mom too (duh) and my brother (double duh) but my Pop, my Dad, is the first man I ever fell in love with, so it stands to reason he holds a special place in my heart.

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7) I love Lori Semler, my best friend from Penn State who is my last standing friend from those years of growth and exploration. Lori was a Penn State Lion Ambassador with me, a select club of kids who got the chance to represent the university by giving tours of campus and working with VIP guests at Big Ten PSU football games. Semler as call her is my girl, my heart, since our besets friend Jen passed away a few years after college from kidney cancer. Seller and I share a ladybug tattoo.

 

8) I love the people I work with closely at QVC every week. They are the people who help me to be me, and make me laugh. They are my champions, my supporters, and they also know me well enough to call me out on my stuff. Erica, Sherry, Erika, Erin, Bev, Jen, the PMS models. These women make me better. But most of all, they accept me as me, and I feel comfortable being me in their presence. How grateful I am for talented good hearted people who have been put in my path.

 

Me and Sherry

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Erica and me

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9) I have a friend named Karen. She is a Christian. She loves God. I mean Lovvvessss. She has had her fair share of difficulty and heartbreak. But she loves and trusts God beyond measure. When in my hurt I doubt, I go to Karen. I lob questions and doubts at her, and she always steadies my doubt or fear, with confidence love and fellowship. She is beautiful and she inspires me in my faith. I am so grateful for the way she has shepherded my love of God, my love of Joe, and my journey toward being a great, present friend.

 

10) I love Joe. I love that eHarmony brought Joe to me. I love Neil Clark Warren for inventing eHarmony. I love that my friends Rachel, Michelle and others, helped me navigate online dating to accept Joe’s invite to meet. No marriage or relationship is perfect. But I am most lucky to have a man who is honest, tender, loving, committed to me, and oh by the way hot. Ha. It may have taken me until I was 40, but I’m better for it. (because my judgement and taste in love was hideous when I was younger) Smiley Happy

 

Joe's eHarmony pic .... his soulful eyes got me! 

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Shawn

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