More People We Love

Continued from Wednesday . . .

These people already know that we love them, but here is why . . .

My friend LeaEllen is so kind-hearted and thoughtful, I often find myself wishing I could be more like her. She is probably the nicest person I know. Wait -- I take that back -- she is tied with my friend Erica (yes, you Erica Fokens!) as "The Nicest Person I Know." I'm lucky to have these two ladies in my life, and I love them both.

I love my friend Tricia because no matter what I tell her . . . no matter what I say . . . she is still my friend and loves me any way. Sometimes I don't even know why she likes me -- she knows me so well! Everyone needs a friend like Tricia. :)

I love Kristy because she has known me so long . . . she knew me before I knew myself well enough to hide the bad stuff from others. And she still likes me. (Or does a pretty good job of faking it, anyway.)

I love Keisha because she is so honest and real. And we have so much in common. And she finds a way to make the best out of anything thrown her way. Friends like her are hard to come by.

I love Dan (he is our girls' "Uncle Dan", for regular readers of the blog) because he is originally Jim's friend . . . his college buddy . . . but he often finds time to call me and see how I am doing, especially if he knows that we are having a hard time at our house.

I love my in-laws because they make me feel like I've always been a part of the Dahlby family.

I love Meg and Kate's preschool teachers because they are helping me raise smart, strong, kind children.

I love my cousin Doug and his wife Becky because they can relate to stuff that goes on in our family -- both our immediate and extended family situations. For an only child, having just one relative that can understand where you are coming from when it comes to personal (not always fun or flattering) family issues is invaluable.

I love the woman that cleans my house because she seems to genuinely care about our family and our home.

I love my husband because he never, ever ceases to amaze me. I mean that 100%. Just today -- with bad weather in Atlanta and a million obstacles in his way -- he found a way to get home to our family from Minneapolis. I never thought he'd make it. But -- as usual -- he found a way.

This, by no means, is a final list of the people we love. There are countless people that come in and out of our lives daily that we love for many, many reasons. But on Valentine's Day, these people came to mind . . . and I think they should know how much we love them.