Sister Valentine, I Believe in Love

Next up on my list of Valentines is a woman. Yes, a woman dear to my heart.

It's my sister.

She's the grooviest, smartest, bad-assed gardener sister anybody could ask for. As much as I adore my brothers and all their families, there's really nothing like having a sister. And there's really nothing like having a sister like mine. And we have daughters, three weeks apart, a situation that sweetens the deal even more.

She has been through a helluva lot, and she's helped me through some tough times, too. The beauty of us, as readers who are fortunate to have a similar sister connection know, is that we always seem to be able to meet each other where we are. She always has a helpful perspective, a useful way of reframing a situation, and sometimes just that sisterly validation does the trick.

My little sister has been especially critical these last few weeks. I've been stuck. She and Shameless Agitator and other close companions have been part of a short little sidetrip I've taken and during which I got a bit lost. Now I feel I'm coming round back in the right direction, and that all good things are possible.

This song is from the Indigo Girls' new release, Despite Our Differences. A serious appreciation of the songs of these two women are among the zillion things my sister and I share in common, and the recording was a gift from her at Christmas. I Believe In Love is a sort of redemptive, safely in a new place kind of tune. It feels like the right place to leave things, if you know what I mean, the right way to leave things, and that's what I'm doing this Valentine's eve. And it's exactly the kind of tune that helps my sister and me get past that last little rough patch on the road of trouble. That, and having each other to lean on.

Thanks, A. I love you.

I Believe In Love

When we tried to rework all of this

Each to her rendition

Painted ourselves in a corner

Lost for ideas blindly fishing

For a compliment or kindness

Just to bring us into view

But you could not interpret me and I could not interpret you

I remember that cold morning

When the trees were black with birds

I tried to make out some connection

We were at a loss for words

After all that we've been through

I could not see giving up

Despite the picture of our coffee growing colder in the cups

I want to say that underneath it all

you are my friend

And the way that I fell for you

I'll never fall that way again

I still believe despite our differences

that what we have's enough

And I believe in you and

I believe in love

So we went rolling on down through the years

Taking time off we could steal

Until the thief of things unreconciled

Stuck it's stick into the wheel

Now we're tumbling in a freefall

No one's gonna go unscathed

But it's not because you held back and its not how I behaved

I want to say that underneath it all you are my friend

And the way that I fell for you

I'll never fall that way again

I still believe despite our differences that what we have's enough

I believe in you and I believe in love

There are avenues and supplements and books stacked on the shelf

Labyrinths of recovery in search of our best self

But most of what will happen now is way out of our hands

So just let it go and see where it lands

I want to say that underneath it all you are my friend

And the way that I fell for you

I'll never fall that way again

I still believe despite our differences

that what we have's enough

I believe in you and I believe in love

I believe in you and I believe in love