My most romantic story was the day my husband proposed. We had been going out for eight months and at a whole 17-years old I knew I loved this man with all of my heart, from his wonderful crooked smile to the way he made me feel so safe when he held my hand. He was 21 and in college.

One night he told me that he decided to join the Air Force and my heart sank. At the time my dad was in the Air Force and had been in Vietnam. He was to leave for training in a month and I felt like I was losing my best friend as well as the love of my life.

The weekend before he was to leave we went skiing in New Hampshire (where we both lived at the time). It was near Valentine’s Day and he wanted to do something special. We were on the ski lift that night when all of a sudden it stopped. A voice over the loudspeaker came on and said “Laurie Young, will you please look down.” A spotlight came on and there in the snow in thousands of cinnamon and candy hearts were the words “will you marry me?” Of course I said yes.

A few months after his training he was sent to Vietnam and I waited for his return while I finished my senior year of high school, writing each other everyday. We were married after he returned home with cinnamon hearts and candy hearts decorating my bouquet. That was 36 years, five children, two daughter-in-laws, and two grandchildren ago and each year for Valentine’s Day he gives me a box of candy hearts with the words “I love you” spelled out in cinnamon hearts.