Valentine’s Day is the holiday that celebrates love. Beyond the kids buying/making Valentines for their classmates, it’s not a holiday we celebrate in our family. Our reason is that you should tell people you love them without needing a special day or buying gifts.

But this year we are doing something a little different.

It’s a crazy time in our country right now and for all the progress that has been made, there is uncertainty that the rights of everyone will remain protected.  So this year we are celebrating love- all love- with some special Valentine’s gifts. The proceeds of our gifts benefit the Human Rights Campaign and the Trevor Project. #loveisloveislove

A presidential executive order banned people traveling from seven countries from entering the United States regardless if they had a green card or were authorized to enter the US. Lawyers- volunteers- rushed to airports to be sure rights were protected. The ACLU went to court – and won- blocking the order for a period of time. In Boston lawyers were able to have the order blocked for 7 days. And another rally, another call to action, happened the very same weekend.

It was impromptu and big and spread via social media. Throughout all that has been going on, my solace has been that this is Boston. We stand on the right side of history. We stand up for what we believe in. I’m so proud the kids have been able to see this first hand. I am so proud of the conversations we have had because of what is going on in the world. This affects all of us. They have friends – we have friends- from the countries that have been deemed places that terrorists are from. What is going on is not right and I’m proud they are seeing people say so and are joining with them.