Valentine’s Day is all about love. Many people make comments like Valentines is a silly holiday made up by the greeting card companies to make some money. Other people say, well the first group is cynical and lonely. I say there are many types of love and that we should celebrate the people we love. So I thought my post this week should be about love. My best friend in college once told me that I over use the word love. She said, “You tell everyone I love you!” While I don’t disagree with her it did make me stop and think. I started thinking about the Greeks and their multiple types of love. Agape, phileo, storge, eros. Agape love – the love of God, an unconditional love. Phileo love – to have a special interest in someone, to consider them a friend. Eros love – sexual or passionate love. And Storge love – the love that naturally occurs between parents and children.
This Valentine’s Day I felt Eros love when my husband sent me chocolate covered strawberries and storge love when my daughters made me a poster. But the most fun part was showing Phileo love to a classmate. Tami left school early when her contractions started to become more intense and frequent. So over dinner we started thinking of something we could do for her. Brad, Rachel, Chad, Ryan, and I decided to make her a birthing playlist. We included: “I’m coming out,” “Stuck in the middle with you,” “Push it,” “What is love,” and others. We went to CVS and bought a cheap MP3 player and delivered it to the hospital room at 9:30pm. Tami was blown away. It must have helped because Arianna Sophia was born at 12:08am Feb. 15th 2013.
A day that could have just been another Thursday or just another Valentine’s Day was made special by expressing phileo love for classmates, and supporting Tami as she was about to experience Storge love for the newest member of the Sherman family.
Pictured clockwise: Tami, Melinda, Ryan, Chad, Brad, and Rachel.
