Welcome to the day we set aside for love.
So what does a newspaper editor know about affairs of the heart?
I am reminded of a great line from one of my favorite movies, "Moonstruck," in which Olympia Dukakis counsels a college professor who engages in a series of disastrous relationships with young coeds: "What you don't know about women, is a lot."
Yeah, I know the feeling.
I also know something else.
Being married to a newspaper editor is no walk in the park. And this one? Well, let's just say I have my moments.
The newspaper business is littered with shattered relationships. That's especially true when both the combatants - and I use that word literally - are involved in the business.
I've seen a lot of broken hearts in my day. Today, I guess there is some kind of allegory there for an industry that finds itself in tatters.
But at least both parties knew what they were getting into when they signed up for the gig.
It's the relationships where one person is in the business and the other is not that it takes a very special person to make it work.
A person like my Valentine.
Ironically, we actually met at a newspaper.
She worked in advertising; I was in news.
She was smart enough to get out; I'm a lifer.
And yet she has stayed with me every step of the way. That means a lot of missed dinners, parties, and family events.
That means a lot of nights, weekends and holidays.
That means getting used to hearing KYW on the radio.
It means knowing that just about any day is one phone call - or today one text or email - from being upended.
God, the email. The damn stuff just never stops.
She has always joked that she has come in second to my 'mistress' - the newspaper. I guess today she probably feels the same way about the laptop that seems to accompany us everywhere.
So what do you get that kind of a woman on Valentine's Day.
Maybe a day without blaring headlines, or constant interruptions, or just some peace and quiet.
That probably won't happen.
I can't ever repay her for all the time lost. All I can do is appreciate that she is still here.
Happy Valentine's Day! Maybe tonight I don't read the papers when I get home.
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