It's Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air. 

I could quote a bunch of songs about love. I could recite what scripture says about love. I could mention my favorite movies ("Princess Bride" and "True Love") that have to do with love. 

But I will not.

On this day, I would rather tell you about two couples who embodied love. They didn’t have to say it. As a matter of fact, I can’t recall them saying, “I love you.” I do, however, recall how they treated each other. To me, that was love. 

One of these couples was my Uncle Frank Urick and his wife, Vivian. In the days when my wife and I had five young kids and little or no money, we could drive the old station wagon to their home in the Highwood Mountains of Montana each summer. They welcomed us with open arms, set aside time from their daily chores, fed us, took us around to visit relatives, and, best of all, after the kids went to sleep, sat down with us at their kitchen table and talked into the night. 

What struck me, though, was how they were with each other. It was simple and sweet. They smiled often at each other. They exchanged knowing glances. They were kind to each other. They honored each other. They teased each other. 

I don’t know if we ever went anywhere when Uncle Frank and Aunt Vivian were not quietly holding hands. I can still see them walking to the Catholic church on Sunday mornings, side by side, sitting together, praying together and leaving the same way. 

But there was one exchange between them that has stayed with me all these years. 

Uncle Frank had returned home from a few jobs of shoeing horses, perhaps $100 in his pocket to show for a hard day's work. 

Aunt Vivian, that day, had picked up her medicine in town, and it cost about $100. 

“I’m afraid you shoed for nothing today,” she said to her husband as we sat down in the kitchen.

He looked at her and smiled softly.  

“Oh, I think it’s worth something to keep you around.” 

I could see the delight on Aunt Vivian’s face. She beamed.

Frank and Vivian Urick were beautiful. 

The other couple I was honored to know and watch express their love to each other was Bill and Judie Fernandez on Kauai. We became good friends and spent many dinners together at their home. I count those warm evenings my wife and I spent with them on their front porch near the ocean as the most precious of all on that Hawaiian island.  

Funny. Judie and I were on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but it was never an issue. Never a point of disagreement (I would not have debated anything with her as she was a retired attorney, intelligent and would have shredded me). She and Bill made it a point, I think, not to bring up politics as they did not want it to affect our relationship. To them, being kind and loving was what mattered.

The way that Bill and Judie smiled and laughed when they were together, how they were so soft with each other, how they looked after each other, encouraged and praised each other, I’ll never forget. They were two of the best people I have ever known. Of all the people we came to know on Kauai, I miss them the most.

Like Frank and Vivian, they welcomed us with hugs, were delighted to see us, and always left us feeling better than we arrived. Bill and Judie, more than anyone we knew on Kauai, lived aloha.  

Frank and Vivian Urick. Bill and Judie Fernandez. Four people who, among all, loved.

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Bill Buley is the managing editor of The Press. He can be reached at [email protected].