Valentine’s Day is all about expressing love – and not just romantic love! From friends to family members, there’s plenty to go around. We spoke with real customers to find out who they’re celebrating this Valentine’s Day.

We first spoke with Linda, an UrbanStems customer from Sacramento, California. This Valentine’s Day, Linda is celebrating her mom, Stacy. For Linda, Stacy is “the number one woman in my life that has shown me how to live my life gracefully, happily, and with no regrets.”

A stage 3 breast cancer survivor, Stacy is the woman Linda strives to be like, “someone who never gives up, the definition of perseverance, continues to love life no matter what gets thrown her way.”

Flowers have always held a special place in their story. “Growing up my mom and I would always plant flowers together in the garden and have them in our home. As I got older, we would go to the farmer’s market together to buy bouquets. It became one of our favorite things to do together to bond. When she had breast cancer, I continued to get flowers for her while she was in recovery. For us it symbolizes love, growth, and beauty that is for everyone to enjoy throughout the different stages of its life. Seeing her smile and spirits uplifted every time she saw the flowers gave us both immense joy.”

We also talked with Kim, from Newtown, Connecticut. She chose to honor her hero this Valentine’s Day, her father, Peter. After his early diagnosis with Parkinson’s and dementia, Kim wanted to honor the wonderful memories she had of her father, “My dad worked very hard to give us the best life he could and now as a mom, I value all the special moments he gave us.”.

“Every Valentine’s Day he would come home from work with three drugstore red Valentine's chocolate boxes (one for my mom and one each for me & my twin sister) and flowers for us. That he was my first Valentine. He is a lover of “love” so Valentine's Day was a big deal in our family growing up.”

Peter loved to surprise their family with flowers for no reason at all, so it’s only fitting that he receives flowers and chocolates of his own this Valentine’s Day! “The act of giving us flowers made us feel special and loved and important - who knew that flowers could make you feel that way - but they do.”

We also spoke with Julia, an UrbanStems customer from Phoenix Arizona, about her mother. For Julia, her mother “has been my favorite person and role model for all of my life. Her and my dad moved to the United States 10 days before I was born so that they could give me greater opportunities.”

“My mom didn’t speak English, and was not very excited about moving to America; but she did it for my dad and I. Growing up in the States, my mom and I learned English together. And we are still super close to this day.”

Julia’s mother “loves unconditionally, teaches me, advises me, puts others first, and always is there for me.” For their family, flowers are a way of “showing appreciation” for each other. Both her and her mother love giving and receiving flowers. Not only is Julia gifting her mother flowers for Valentine’s Day, she plans on helping out with anything else she needs to get done.

While we tend to focus on romantic love on Valentine’s Day, it’s just as important to celebrate the love of our families, who help shape us into the person we become. These stories illustrate some of the many forms of love, including the love between a parent and child. Celebrate love in your own life this Valentine’s Day!