With yesterday being Valentine’s Day, we’ve been ruminating on love stories.  Crazy love, first love, unrequited love, lasting love. Almost everyone you talk to has a bittersweet funny love story and those are my favorites.

When I was a freshman in college I sent my back-home boyfriend a Valentine’s Day card.  The text on the inside read, “I love you more today than yesterday. I hope you get this card on the right day.” I thought it was the perfect combination of lighthearted and heartfelt.  

You guessed it.  He broke up with me the day after I mailed the card, the day before he received it.  My nineteen-year-old self was mortified.  Now I’m glad I sent it.  

My absolute favorite quote is from Satchel Paige, who said “Work like you don’t need the money.  Love like you’ve never been hurt.  Dance like nobody’s watching.”  I truly believe you can live your entire life with no advice but this.  See you can’t go wrong if you are expressing love.  Even if you feel foolish. Even if it is not returned. Even if it hurts you at the time.

Here at the Daily Iberian we are working at showing a little love for our local police department. I very seldom weigh in on political issues, but when we were faced with the decision to raise sales tax to support a local police force, I came out full force in favor. Now, The Daily Iberian is undertaking an initiative to both increase the number of well-informed citizens and help the New Iberia Police Department purchase much-needed tactical equipment.

Through March, The Daily Iberian will donate $10 for each new subscriber. Our goal? We want to reach 1,000 new readers and donate $10,000 to the NIPD.

Chances are if you are reading this you are already a subscriber, but I guarantee you know folks who are not. So please reach out to them to help us strengthen this community.

Subscribing is easy. A digital-only subscription is only $9.99 per month and print plus our full digital suite is only $12.70 per month. You can subscribe at iberianet.com or by calling us at 337-321-6769.  When you do, we will make a donation of $10.00 in your name. We are not asking for a long-term commitment and you can cancel your subscription at any time.

I’ve had a couple of days this week where a few people got under my skin. Nothing serious, just people who, for whatever reason, try to bring you down. Valentine’s Day could not have come at a better time.  It reminds me that you can always find more love than hate, more people who prop you up than people who bring you down.  And I find that New Iberia has more than its fair share of loving people.  

To Freddie DeCourt – thank you so much for taking the time to reach out to me and let me know that you are grateful for what the Daily Iberian is doing to raise money for the police department.

To David Langley, General Manager at ARDCO Equipment, thank you so much for contacting me to offer a match to the dollars we are raising for the police department.

To the 50 new subscribers – thank you so much for investing in us and making it possible for us to make this donation to the police department.

 

CHRISTINA PIERCE is publisher of The Daily Iberian.