I'm not this "down with love!" type at all, despite what some people seem to think just because I'm not all "Rah Rah Obama!"  Nor am I one of these people who sits in the cafe watching lovers pass on the pavement, grumbling to myself or cursing and screaming "You fools!  Can't you see! Love's an illusion!" This is America.  We're all entitled to our illusions.

I have a heart, and I know how to use it.  It is a little beaten and battered, as even the best-made after 37 or so years tend to be, but it is not broken.  It does all the things hearts do.  It beats, it sings, it races, it bleeds, it aches, it soars.  It holds secrets.  Occasionally it ventures out onto my sleeve.  Just like yours.  Just like everyone's.

So this year, to show you I'm a sport, I've decided that in honor of St. Valentine's Day, I am unironically choosing a couple that exemplifies the very best this holiday has to offer (and I use the word "unironically" unironically).

The idea actually came to me Sunday at a lovely brunch at Casa Romero, hosted by marvelous Chef Leo Romero and his delightful partner Iory Allison, who were featured in The Courant's Valentine Week edition:


There were actually two other very worthy couples in attendance at brunch. The vibrant and charming (and one-time Boston mayoral candidate) Bud Collins, whose writing and commentary on tennis is legendary, and his stunning wife, photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen. 

And Ricardo Barreto, Director of the UrbanArts Institute at MassArt (whom I had the distinct pleasure of sitting across from) and his partner Will Chapman, Director of Marketing and Development at Opera Boston.  It was a pretty stimulating brunch, I have to say, with hosts and guests full of curiosity, and curiosities to share.

I've known Iory and Leo for three or four years.  Among other things they're master gardeners with a gorgeous plot in the Fenway Victory Gardens around the corner from mine.  They've been together for 31 years now, and they're a delightful couple, and still clearly very much in love.

Aside from having a sense of humor and lots of friends, the trick to this kind of longevity in a relationship seems to be having your own creative endeavors, and a generous spirit when it comes to sharing them.  Leo's got Casa Romero, and Iory, along with his work as an interior designer, is writing his third book in his Glamour Galore trilogy.  I'm on his second, The Naughty Astronautess, at the moment.  World travel also seems to be a big help.

However they do it, 31 years (they finally took the plunge last year, after a thirty-year courtship, so, technically, they're still newlyweds) is nothing to sneeze at.  So Iory and Leo, on this Valentine's Day, I salute you!