Cupid's Choice Stops At The Morgan Diaries

Yes, it's another fun and rollicking Blog Hop put on by the awesome authors of JustRomance.me and we're playing for all we're worth this weekend and getting in the mood for Valentine's Day. If you're starting here, be sure to pick up the hop at the beginning by clicking on the link above.


Frankly, this year it's taking a little work to get in the mood. Jmo and I have both been nose to the grindstone, writing, writing, writing. Which is a good thing. A great thing! But tends to leave our significant others wondering, yet again, where we're traveling inside our heads. 


So, with romance in the air, I got to thinking about some of the most romantic moments in my life and I asked Jmo to give me a little nudge. He never disappoints. 


Jmo on Valentine's Day

It was a dark and stormy night. Not really, but we authors say that when we're struggling to come up with something genius. When it comes to Valentine's Day, that means we say it a lot, especially us guys. No matter how romantic we seem on the outside, that one day of the year scares the crap out of us. Mainly because we know nothing we do the rest of the year to show our wives how much we love them matters as much as we do this one day of the year. That said, my wife is the greatest! She never asks for much. A dinner out. Great chocolate and no Star Wars for at least the day of. I can usually manage two of those.

She, on the other hand, knows exactly how to tug my heartstrings. Every year she makes it a point to get me the most romantic thing in the world! Yep, you guessed it. A giant Reeses peanut butter heart. Hey, I'm a guy. We're simple like that. The point I'm trying to make is this. Women know men better than we know them. Men in general spend at least a good week coming up with the perfect gift, or so we think. Like women want something to make housework easier or a Quesadilla maker to, well, make us quesadillas. That realization hits us, oh, about the time our special someone tells us that the night before Valentine's Day. Which is why the local Walgreen's is bombarded and drained of not-so-nice smelling perfume and cheap heart shaped boxes of chocolates by 9am Valentine's Day. It also explains why restaurant reservations suspiciously get lost when we take you out for fine dining.

So, ladies, in advance, I'd like to apologize for my bonehead brothers in confusion. We promise to do better next year or you can kill us. It'd be so much simpler than torturing us for the rest of our lives.

Morgan's Take

So that's why we spent an hour in a crowded anteroom at Sullivan's Steakhouse last year waiting for a table? A last minute decision to go out for a late dinner on Valentine's. At least they served wine and munchies while we sat elbow to elbow with a few dozen strangers.

And while that was, in a way, very romantic, it's really hard to beat the Valentine's Day before our wedding.  Yes, there have been many good ones since, but that one, well. Let me tell you the story. There's a teeny bit of history here. 

Roses from Mr. O'Reilly many years later.
He's still romantic!

For many years my father was involved in Rotary and every year his club sold and delivered red roses. For $10, the businessman who forgot all about the day could have one dozen long stemmed red roses delivered anywhere in the city. Being the driving offspring of one Rotarian, there were a few years I got to do the delivering for him. Then there was the year I was working elsewhere and couldn't take the day to do the running. I was at my desk, working high above of busy warehouse when my sweetie arrived with a dozen red roses. He didn't say a word, just handed them to me, turned around and left. 

Curious, I went out on the balcony over looking the warehouse and watched as he walked across it to the other office and out the door. A few minutes later he came back carrying two dozen red roses. And the girls on the other side all crowded up against the window to see where he was going. He climbed the stairs, handed me the roses, turned around and went back the way he came.

Three trips, and a large bucket later, I had in my tiny office, six dozen roses. He made one more trip and came back with the seventh, and final bundle of flowers. 

I was laughing and amazed and completely won over. Again. Somewhere deep in a dark box I have a picture of all those roses. I need to dig it out. Twenty plus years later, it's a good reminder of how things started out. A good benchmark for all we've been through and how much better things are today.

Have a special Valentine's memory? Planning something big this year? One commenter will win a copy of Jmo's book The Southern Werewolf Chronicles Book Two: Were the Moon Don't Shine, which is also up for Review of the Week at Long and Short Reviews. Commenters will also be included in the big drawing for the Nook Touch which will be loaded with books, such as Morgan's Til Death Undo Us, Book 1 of the Open Windows series. Things get really hopping here and the generosity bug could take a big bite outta us and we might find more stuff to give away.

The Morgans

PS: If you haven't met us before and are curious, and who isn't really, at the top of this page, on the right, is a list of pages associated with this blog. The list includes J. Morgan's books, Morgan Q. O'Reilly's books, and a some we did together. Ya know, just in case you want more stuff to read, and who doesn't! We love to read! So dig in and enjoy.