Valentine's Day was the time my father chose to show his love for the special people in his life．Over the years I fondly(天真地)thought 1 him as my “Valentine man”．
My first recollection of the 2 he could bring to Valentine's Day came when I was six．That morning at the breakfast table I found a card and a gift-wrapped package at my chair．The card was 3 “Love, Dad” and the gift was a ring with a small piece of red glass to 4 my birthstone, a ruby(红宝石)．There is 5 difference between red glass and rubies to a child of six, and I remember 6 that ring with pride that all the cards in the world 7 not surpass(超越)．
8 I grew older, the gifts gave 9 to heart-shaped boxes filled with my 10 chocolate and always included a 11 card signed “Love, Dad”．In those years my thank-you became 12 of a perfunctory(敷衍)response．The cards seemed less 13 , and I took for granted that the Valentine would 14 be there．I had 15 my hopes and dreams in receiving cards and gifts from “significant others” and “Love, Dad” just didn't seem quite 16 ．
His final card remains on my desk today．It's a 17 of how special fathers can be and how important it has been to me over the years to know that I had a father who continued a 18 of love with simple acts of understanding and an ability to express happiness over the people in his life．
Those things never 19 , nor does the memory of a man who never 20 being my valentine．
My husband Val and I had not been getting along well lately．We didn’t argue, but we hardly 1 ．I knew that one 2 was that I often scold him．Unfortunately, I looked only at his faults and forgot to notice how 3 he had done in everything．
I really didn’t want to be 4 talking too much, but it almost seemed as if I could not 5 ．However, I made up my mind to 6 ．Could I?
I decided to try．Each day I would find one thing I liked in 7 and mentioned it to him．The first day, again, appeared the greatest problem．I noticed 8 things I didn’t like about Val．Why did he leave his books everywhere in his study instead of putting them 9 ?How could he wear that 10 shirt again?And I had a difficult time 11 with anything good I could mention．
I thought and thought． 12 he was good sometimes．When something needed repair around the house, Val 13 until he discovered what was wrong．
14 , I told Val I was glad he was patient with my faults and said 15 about the way I often scold him．He smiled a small, weak smile that made me 16 ,“Maybe this isn’t going to work．”I said to myself．But as three weeks continued, finding something good about my husband came 17 ．He deals honestly with everyone; he treats our children with 18 ．Why had I seen so many unpleasant things?
By the end of the 21 days, I couldn’t believe how easy 19 had become to praise Val．And Val did seem 20 ．In fact, he mentioned that I seemed to have changed a lot．
