Valentine’s Day

February 14th, 2013 – I remember hand making Valentine’s cards in elementary school. We folded sheets of construction paper, cut out little contrasting paper hearts and glued them together. Then we wrote little “I Love You’s” to our parents and took them home proudly.

I also remember those mass manufactured Valentine’s Day cards that parents bought so children could give cards to all their friends and teachers. Do they still make those? Do kids still give them to each other? Or is it all digital now? I hope not.

More recently, I remember when a regular client of the shop I once worked at came in on Valentine’s Day. We asked what he was up to that evening, and he indicated he was throwing an “Anti-Valentine’s Day Party”. Alex was single, and sick of the lovey-dovey nature of Valentine’s Day. It was his personal protest against the day. He baked heart shaped cookies and broke them all in half. He decorated his apartment in black streamers and played distinctly un-lovey music. He made Bloody Mary’s to drink and played a Murder Mystery game.

Yes, it’s that “Day” again. The day when those in love are expected to get all mushy with each other. When women expect to be showered with love, and men go crazy trying to avoid disappointing. It’s also the day when single people either bask in their singleness or wallow in it.

It’s the day when candy stores have a line of men out the door, when flower shops stock over priced roses, and dinner reservations have taken every table at the nice restaurants. It’s the day lingerie sales spike and men carry flowers for reasons other than to get out of the doghouse – or to ensure that they don’t get thrown into it. It’s a day to stop and appreciate the person in your life who brings happiness and love to your heart, and let them know how much you care.

Yes, it’s over commercialized. And no, most women don’t expect you to come through the door with a diamond necklace. Yes, it’s a bit sappy. But you know what? What most women want more than anything in life, what they really love, is to know that you haven’t forgotten, that you are thinking about them and valuing them ahead of work and other pressures of life. That holds more value than roses or chocolate. That means more than diamonds ever can. That’s what women want from their men. It’s inexpensive, and shouldn’t be that difficult.

I love romance, so I usually love Valentine’s Day, but it’s not all about romance.

(113 in 2013 #14 – Valentine’s Day)