Make Valentine’s Day special this year. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t with your loved one because Valentine’s Day is so much more than a Greeting Card Holiday, filled with calorie packed sweets and flowers. It is Congenital Heart Defect Day and that won’t mean a whole lot to you until you’ve met a child who isn’t supposed to be alive because of a heart defect.

My daughter is one of those miracles. She is missing half of her heart and has seen more in her short two years than most of us see in a life time. After several open hearts and closed hearts, she still needs more, but she never gives up on us. She always has a smile on her face and I know there are more little angels out there.

Take a moment on Valentine’s Day to be grateful that we live in a country that has the medical capacity to save these little miracles. I work with families around the world that have nearly given up hope because they don’t have the ability to get the medical care we take for granted.

If your spouse is currently deployed, take comfort in knowing that because US Service Members care, children all over the world are able to come to this country and get the heart surgeries they need to survive. I get phone calls and e-mails from concerned Soldiers and Marines several times a year interested in getting medical care for children they’ve found who need help in war torn areas. They don’t know these children, but they care enough to get them the help they need.

To me, that is true love. That is the kind of love we need to focus on this Valentine’s Day.

Over and out…