You Are Beloved



I imagine a woman on Valentine’s Day in 1964 giving birth to her sixth child with the sudden realization that it was a girl.  This was more than she could handle after having five boys.  She was confused, she was worried and postpartum depression set in and it was strong.  She gave birth to a little girl and in the midst of confusion, chaos and depression she gave her a name that means “beloved”.

When I was a little girl I thought that the name Amy was a little girl’s name.  I couldn’t imagine growing up with that name.  It bothered me so much that I cried to my dad explaining that I would be made fun of with this name.  It was some time later that we were sitting outside, as we often did in our little rural town, and we watched a woman ride by on her horse.  My dad said, “Do you see that grown-up woman? Her name is Amy”.  My dad knew two things about me; I loved horses and I was still scared about growing up with this name.  Was he telling the truth that day?  I don’t know because I hadn’t seen that woman before that day and I don’t know that we ever met.  All I know is that suddenly I was ok with my name. 

Beloved; my mom and dad gave me a name that means beloved.  There have been variations of this simple name over the years.  If someone refers to me as Amo, then I know it’s a friend from Iowa who has known me a long, long time.  If I hear someone say Amy Lynn, it is most likely my favorite, and yes kids my only, husband.  No matter how it’s said, I know that I am loved.

Today is my birthday and it is also Valentine’s day.  I had a co-worker who once referred to this day as “single’s awareness day”.  He may have been joking but I heard disappointment in his voice as he proclaimed it.  He was single and was feeling the sting of not having a “sweetheart” on this day.  I remember the years between marriages when all of my friends at work would get flowers on this day from their spouses and I would go year after year with no flowers on this day that was not only a “lover’s holiday” but it was my birthday.  Each year I would find a way to laugh it off during the day and then would go home at night and cry.  I could never find a lunch or dinner partner on my birthday because everyone was out with their special someone on that day.  I hated my birthday, I hated Valentine’s Day because it is a “couple’s day”.  There was a couple in my life, however, who knew that this was a hard day for me and would invite me over to their house for dinner and cake.  Paul and Kathy had both been single for a long time before they met and they knew the sting of holidays like this for people like me.  They always made sure they included their single friends in their parties and while I was with them I didn’t feel “single”.  I felt beloved.  I felt like it didn’t matter who I was married to, it mattered simply that I was loved. 

Today I am again married and I enjoy my life with Mike.  The way he says Amy Lynn makes my little heart melt.  Often I will say to him, I wish that all of my friends could know the love of another human the way that I now know love.  I’m not talking about a romantic love.  I simply wish that everyone could know that they are loved.

Whatever your name is and whatever the circumstance, you are beloved this day and if nobody else tells you that today, I hope that you can at least imagine that someone in Kansas cares and sincerely wants you to feel loved this day.

My challenge for all of my friends is that you would reach out to someone today who may feel less than loved and tell them they are beloved. 


Happy Valentine’s Day with love,

Amy Lynn Michael

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love is Not Blind

Recently I had to be away from home on business for two full weeks.  This meant being away from my husband.  With each day that I was gone I became more aware of how much I enjoy having Mike in my everyday life and I just plain missed his presence.  I do love technology and although I haven’t yet mastered Skype, we talked on the phone as often as we could and sent text messages.  Mike writes a love note for me most every day and while I was away that didn’t stop.  In fact he still wrote them with pen on paper.  He then photographed and e-mailed them to me so that I would be able to read them at the end of my work day just like I do when I’m at home.  That was an amazing thing but still I missed his smile, his eyes and his touch.  These are things that cannot be substituted. Love is blind they say.  “They” also say that my affections for my husband and this incredible desire to share every day with him will pass with time.  It seems that...
Read more

That Old Road

Image
There is just something that keeps calling me back. Maybe it's a fear that the good memories will fade with time unless I trace over and again the path to all I have become. Driving familiar roads making note of the things that remain; only older, warn and broken down. Grieving, in a small way, the things that are no longer there; houses, grocery stores, barns. Time seems the robber of memories. But what we do remember must be met with the reality that someone remembers those things differently, if at all. We remember events, people and places according to the the effect that they had on our lives. Perhaps we remember them as obstacles in our path while someone remembers them as the challenge they needed to push them to achieve more. However we remember those things, they are etched in our minds somewhere. Whether we choose to remember or not, they can creep to the front of our mind. Most would not know about a little town in Iowa called Clarion. But when I hear mention of th...
Read more

Dear Abby

After listening to break-room talk today, I decided to come home and compose a letter to Dear Abby that may have come from any one of the conversations that I witnessed.  This is in no way to be a reflection on my marriage.  I have trained my husband much better than this.  Enjoy the read and have a best day! Amy Dear Abby, Today is the day I have chosen to finally sit down to write you a letter.   I have been married to Jack Ass, (his real name) far too long.   When we met he was a perfect gentleman.   He always opened the car door for me and waited on me to be settled before closing it.   I in turn would reach across the seat to unlock his door and open it for him as a sign of returning my love.   When we would sit down at the dinner table we would hold hands and gaze lovingly at each other, sometimes forgetting why we were there.   It was bliss, I tell you, pure bliss.   We have been married for one year now and suddenly that ...
Read more