Today is Valentine’s day, kind of. As I began to get ready this morning, I was struck with a feeling of familiarity, a bitter-sweetness that was striking and unshakable. I have celebrated Valentine’s day as a single woman. There is a loneliness that latches on, a cloud of something missing that looms over the day. On that day, above others, a single person FEELS single. And those feelings can go a few ways: a) Bitterness at those who have someone to share the day with OR b) Hope that next year might be different On every single Valentine’s day, I would always take special care to get ready: do my hair, carefully apply makeup, choose a strategic outfit, all because I wanted to look like someone who could be loved, to look like someone who believed her life could change. And one day, it did. Now, as a married woman, hoping, praying, and waiting to adopt a child, it’s Valentine’s day all over again. I got ready this morning and looked in the mirror, hoping