Jim McCann - Celebrating Love: Share, Remember, Cherish

Copyright 2011 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc.
All rights reserved.

For information, write Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, an Andrews McMeel Universal company, 1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

E-ISBN: 978-1-4494-0624-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010931442

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Project Manager and Editor: Heidi Tyline King

Designed by Alexis Siroc

Cover illustration by Andrea Haase

Produced by SMALLWOOD & STEWART, NEW YORK CITY

During good times or challenging times, having the love of friends and family is a powerful advantage in life and business. I know this firsthand because ours is a family-run business and the contributions from my siblings and extended family have not only helped our business succeed, theyve also helped keep me sane (mostly!). I was thinking about these relationships not too long ago after our annual McCann family weekend at our beach house on Long Island. My wife, Marylou, and I were sitting in our favorite lounge chairs drinking a glass of wine and watching a magnificent golden sunset slip over the bay. Our children and their families had just packed up and left. For the first time in five years, they were all living close by in the New York area, and all were healthy, happy, and doing well. As for the two of us, we were celebrating 37 years of marriage. Marveling at how blessed we were, it suddenly hit us: At this moment, this one moment, our life felt just about perfect.

In the springtime of our marriage, we were just a couple of kids, young and in love but with no idea about what life was really like. During those years of babies and tight budgets, I was working two jobs and struggling to make a go of my florist shops. But Marylou rarely complained, even when I came up with the cockamamie idea of round-the-clock customer service, 24 hours a day, seven days a weekand forgot to tell her that she and I were the customer service representatives. I knew it was true love when my wife, between nightly feedings for the baby, would answer telephone calls from customers cheerfully at three a.m. and still manage to smile at me in the morning!

Later, like everyone else, we muddled through our share of troubles: job demands, teenagers, family issues, the passing of our parentsbut somehow, we managed. We figured out how to charge our batteries when the times were good so that when the tough times rolled around, we had enough juice to make it through. We discovered that love, like life, wasnt always fair. There were times when Marylou needed my strength to get her throughand a whole lot of times when I relied on her to share the weight of my burdens.

We also learned that love is a lot more than romantic dinners and family get-togethers. In real, lasting love, there is a familiarity and depth of relationship created over time. Whether marriage or friendship, its the feeling that somebodys got your backthe same somebody who knows all your bad habits but loves you anyway, and who tells you what you dont want to hear even when you know its the truth.

All of our yesterdaysboth good and badhad led us to this moment. We realized what a gift it was to grow old together through the fall and winter seasons of our love. But we were surprised at how sweet it was to have the chance to observe our children as they passed through the seasons of love in their lives. That weekend, we watched our daughter with her new baby and grew teary-eyed by how tender and caring a mother she was, an affirmation that maybe we did some things right. We were overwhelmed by the peace we felt from having our oldest son, James, move back from the Midwest to within a few miles of our house. And we were giddy knowing that within the year, our youngest son, Matt, and his fiance, Jen, would tie the knot and begin the journey that we had started so long ago.

This is my love story, but youll find that its underlying message is not so different from many of those shared in this book by Celebrations.com and 1-800-FLOWERS.com customers. Thats because at the end of the day, were all striving for the same thing. Like air, water, and food, one of our most basic needs is having people we care about and who care about us. Love is the ultimate connection.

Every wish Ive ever wished
Every hope Ive ever had
Every dream Ive ever dreamed
Came true the day I met you!

I prayed every night for God to bless me
with someone special. He answered my
prayer when he sent me you .

In 1959, on my 12th birthday, I found the love of my life. I had gone to a dance class; he was dancing with another girl. Our eyes locked, my heart skipped a few beats, and I felt weak at the knees (yes, it does happen!). Three years later, we ended up at the same birthday party, and it happened again. Soon after we were dating, and we married when I was 19. Our so-called puppy love is now going on 43 years! JANE S .

In my darkest moment I found my brightest light.
I am so glad I found you .

Somewhere along the way
I must have done something right. I know this because I have you in my life!

Love that is not madness
is not love .

PEDRO CALDERN DE LA BARCA

My heart swells as I look his way;