CHICAGO, IL - - Make Valentine’s Day 2003 a truly meaningful occasion for yourself and those you care about by vowing to strengthen your relationships and to help others in need, advises a nationally recognized author and speaker.

Interviewed on NBC-TV’s Today Show, PBS-TV and the CBS Radio Networks, Judith Loseff Lavin says that talk about an impending war with Iraq and other global threats in this post 9-11 era have caused many of us to think about how to make our lives more meaningful and how to celebrate our relationships. This will be especially true on Valentine’s Day.

“When Valentine’s Day rolls around each year, most of us exchange cards, candy or gifts,” adds Lavin, whose highly regarded book about families, parenting and special relationships is now in its 4th printing and will soon be published in German. “Many people may even take a few moments to think about others who matter to them.”

“However, to truly celebrate your relationships with significant others in your life, you must reassess the strengths and weaknesses of those relationships and start changing the aspects that aren’t working,” she advises. Lavin, who regularly speaks around the U.S. to parents, families, educators and health care professionals, suggests that Valentine’s Day is the ideal day to begin this reassessment process. It can also become a more meaningful day if you reach out to help others in need, she adds.

The author of Special Kids Need Special Parents (www.parentingchallenges.com) and the mother of a daughter with special needs offers six tips from her book to strengthen your relationships: