valentines day homework.

In lieu of Valentines Day next week, my all-time favorite professor-ever-ever-ever-ever x 10 gave us this homework assignment:

Kiss somebody as if you had never kissed them before.



(I. About. Died.)

He reasoned that since he's at least 50 years our senior (he's 71) and probably has enough experience at this point to understand "a little bit more about life,"
he concluded with us in class that there is nothing more important than to experience what we all spend so much time reading and writing and talking about:
And that is love.

He quoted Mr. Cummings (kissing homework and ee cummings in one day? I almost fell off my chair)

And read the following:

i carry your heart with me
i carry it in my heart
i am never without it
anywhere i go
you go

...

Here is the deepest secret that nobody knows

...

And this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart


i carry your heart
i carry it in my heart




My heart nearly exploded.


And on my way out the door, I considered writing a letter to this professor just to tell him how much I love this class, and in a very important way,
how much more I love life thanks to him, too.

Because truthfully, I doubt I'll get around to kissing someone as if it were my first time this weekend, (my first real kiss kind of cursed my luck since age 15)

But the more I've thought about my 9:30 class yesterday morning, the more I realized that I left at 10:45 with a little bit more love for love.

And that was the perfect homework assignment for Valentines day.