My husband Josh came home from work with a flower-shaped package wrapped in brown paper. We were already at the dinner table and he said he had something for his Valentines. He pulled out three red roses for me, a dark pink rose for my mother, and a light pink rose for our daughter Ruby. As he walked around the table to Ruby, who was sitting next to Jaden our two-year-old son, and handed her her rose, my son’s eyes never left the empty brown paper in his other hand. The look of sweet expectation was written all over his face. When Ruby’s rose was in hand, his expectation grew. He looked at the brown paper. “Where’s my flowuh?” he said. We quickly siphoned one of mine across the table and Josh handed it to his son. Jaden’s little face beamed. We all oo’ed and ah’ed, and he was nothing short of thrilled with his “flowuh.”     We at the table knew that boys don’t get flowers, but he didn’t. I hope it takes a long long while before he gets that message. And from now on, we will do our best to take the gender out of beautiful flowers. With his innocent anticipation, Jaden reminded me of the critical need to foster the feminine in men.     Every year around Valentine’s Day, playwright and activist Eve Ensler continues to push toward her goal of ending violence against women with V-Day—originally celebrated by staging productions of her play, The Vagina Monologues. Entering her tenth year and with the intention of continuing until-the-violence-stops, her appearances and events are now year-round and star-studded. Proceeds from every show, event, speech, and t-shirt go toward charities that help end violence against women. In addition to going to an event and furthering the necessary steps toward that worthy goal (www.vday.org), see if you can’t also find a way to nurture the feminine in a man you know. It might very well have the same effect that Ensler’s going for.

-Michelle