Happy V-Day (a little late)
So Valentine's Day was last Saturday. Not really a momentous occasion in my house. Tom made dinner and it bought me flowers, but not the most amazing one we've ever had. But that doesn't really matter for the point of this post.
My most memorable Valentine's Day was back when Tom and I were first dating (either our 2nd or 3rd V-Day). He wouldn't tell me where we were going but just to "dress up." (I think I was still working at HorseAbility then so dressing up was probably what I would normally wear to work now.) I had to meet him at his college. I thought because he had a late class or something. He probably made that excuse or said something about having to stay late to work on a project or something.
Turns out we were seeing a play that the school was putting on. It was something that I'd already seen twice but that I'd love to see again and something that he'd never seen. It was The Vagina Monologues. I was flabbergasted that he would actually come with me to see this. But since it was something I had enjoyed he "wanted to see what it was about" because he's just wonderful like that. I don't think he was quite prepared for what he saw that night but he laughed along with everyone else and was silent and shocked at all the right times. He listened and understood and thought.
It was the best Valentine's gift he could ever give me.
This year is the 10th anniversary of the young adult novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (halseanderson). If you've never read it, you're missing out on one of the most powerful novels ever written for a teen. Speak tells the story of the night Miranda went to a party, was raped and the months that followed.
It's fitting that these two events happened around the same time. Valentine's Day is a holiday dedicated to celebrating the love you have for someone else.
Halse Anderson recently release a poem that she wrote about Speak. It's moving and wonderful and brings the whole thing full circle. And back to The Vagina Monologues and the activism that Eve Ensler (writer) tried to bring about, The V-Day Movement, dedicated to stopping violence against women and girls.
When I was 20, Mom and I trekked into the City to Madison Square Garden and saw the big fundraising production of The Vagina Monologues with Oprah and Claire Danes and Julia Stiles and Selma Hayek and Rosie Perez and all these famous wonderful female actresses. And the creator herself, Ms Eve Ensler. It was the first time I saw MSG completely and totally filled (Not even the Jingle Ball compared to this). You could hear a pin drop when each actress started their part and no one got up till it was over.
At one point in the show they asked anyone who had ever experienced or had a friend who experienced violence to stand up. Both my mother and I stood with just about everyone else there. Later I found out how shocked she was that at 20 I had friends who had been hurt like that. I still don't think she realized how many friends I stood up for.
My most memorable Valentine's Day was back when Tom and I were first dating (either our 2nd or 3rd V-Day). He wouldn't tell me where we were going but just to "dress up." (I think I was still working at HorseAbility then so dressing up was probably what I would normally wear to work now.) I had to meet him at his college. I thought because he had a late class or something. He probably made that excuse or said something about having to stay late to work on a project or something.
Turns out we were seeing a play that the school was putting on. It was something that I'd already seen twice but that I'd love to see again and something that he'd never seen. It was The Vagina Monologues. I was flabbergasted that he would actually come with me to see this. But since it was something I had enjoyed he "wanted to see what it was about" because he's just wonderful like that. I don't think he was quite prepared for what he saw that night but he laughed along with everyone else and was silent and shocked at all the right times. He listened and understood and thought.
It was the best Valentine's gift he could ever give me.
This year is the 10th anniversary of the young adult novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (halseanderson). If you've never read it, you're missing out on one of the most powerful novels ever written for a teen. Speak tells the story of the night Miranda went to a party, was raped and the months that followed.
It's fitting that these two events happened around the same time. Valentine's Day is a holiday dedicated to celebrating the love you have for someone else.
Halse Anderson recently release a poem that she wrote about Speak. It's moving and wonderful and brings the whole thing full circle. And back to The Vagina Monologues and the activism that Eve Ensler (writer) tried to bring about, The V-Day Movement, dedicated to stopping violence against women and girls.
Click to viewWhen I was 20, Mom and I trekked into the City to Madison Square Garden and saw the big fundraising production of The Vagina Monologues with Oprah and Claire Danes and Julia Stiles and Selma Hayek and Rosie Perez and all these famous wonderful female actresses. And the creator herself, Ms Eve Ensler. It was the first time I saw MSG completely and totally filled (Not even the Jingle Ball compared to this). You could hear a pin drop when each actress started their part and no one got up till it was over.
At one point in the show they asked anyone who had ever experienced or had a friend who experienced violence to stand up. Both my mother and I stood with just about everyone else there. Later I found out how shocked she was that at 20 I had friends who had been hurt like that. I still don't think she realized how many friends I stood up for.