Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, the day of love and romance, one of the greatest days ever invented for restaurants, flower shops and chocolate companies. I have always had a love/hate relationship with Valentine’s Day, as a business man I appreciate the extra revenue that holiday’s like this bring in. However, in general I think it is rather silly that we pick one day of the year to celebrate and show appreciation to our loved ones. So, I’m going to use this moment to talk about a different kind of love, the love you give/receive through siblings, and parents, close friends and long time co-workers. The kind of relationships that know no boundaries or borders, the people in your life that comes to your aid at a moments notice, and vice versa. You know the ones; you call them when your car battery is dead, when you need help moving, or when you need someone to have dinner with on a Friday night. The ones you call when you have a crappy day, and the same ones you call when you have an awesome day. The ones that know way too much about you and you know way too much about them. These are the relationships that most of us take for granted. They are the first to see our irritation and the last to hear “I love you”. So, I’d like us to take a moment to think of these people in our lives and remember how fleeting life is and how scary it is when something happens to them.

Have you all heard of Logan Henry? Probably not: the news is not using his name since he is a minor, but he was the Broken Arrow teen that was hit by a car a few weeks ago. Logan was running with his cross country team when he was struck by a vehicle and severely injured. Logan’s dad just happens to be an old friend of mine so I have dropped by the hospital a couple of times with Chimi’s food to offer the family support and sustenance. Logan has just recently “woken” up so there was a week or so of uncertainty for his family. Seeing his family during this time is when I was really struck with thoughts of how we take those that are closest to us for granted and ways to change this. So, I am going to spend this year (and hopefully many more) showing the people that I love that they are meaningful and important. Here’s to putting my phone away during dinners and conversations, to taking time away from the restaurants to cultivate important relationships, and most importantly; to having fun and making memories. At the end of the day, I want to be able to say that I did everything I could to spend quality and meaningful time with the people that I am close to. I challenge you all to do the same; life is too short to live with regrets.

I also would like to use this time to ask you all to pray for the Henry family: for strength for Logan as he heals, and courage for his family as they help him through this difficult time.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s day filled with food, flowers, and chocolates!!

Brandon