Valentine's Day was actually pretty fun and exciting as a kid - exchanging character cards with classmates that were put into homemade mailboxes, making sure to give that "special one" to my current crush, eating boxes of conversation hearts even though they never really tasted that good, and simply feeling special, loved, and entertained by silly little cards in white envelopes covered with heart stickers.
As a angsty teenager and young adult, the holiday was painful. Being lonely and single was only thrown back in my face and I felt great resentment towards young couples around me who shared silly gifts of flowers, candies, and cheesy stuffed animals. And then there was the Valentine's day in 1999 where my boyfriend at the time decided to break up with me that night after a seemingly nice date....what a jerk!
Early on in our relationship David and I willingly engaged in the whole V-day thing, i.e exchanging cards and gifts, going out to dinner at nice romantic restaurants, and celebrating in the obligatory sort of way. But then somewhere along the way we realized that truly loving someone is a 356 day per year journey, not something that happens out of obligation every year on February 14th with roses, chocolate and other silly presents. And now that we've been together going on 11 years, and especially since we don't really have either the time nor the money to spare right now with an infant in our lives, we both just decided to share in the simplest of all Valentine's celebrations...a hug and a kiss and time together eating yummy food. So tonight we splurged and ordered Chinese food from East Ocean, opened a bottle of sparkling wine, and watched a movie.....living it up!
In summary, I honestly believe that this holiday was a creation of Hallmark, See's Candy, Hershey, and your local florist conspiring together to make a profit. And if you really love somebody, you shouldn't have to show it one day of the year by giving over-the-top gifts and going out on fancy dates. But since February 14th will always come once per year, I won't refuse the reminder to kiss and hug my hubby and be thankful for the love that fills my life. xoxo!
1 comment:
I completely agree Sarah! I have never understood why February 14th was more important than any other day of the year. Why not some arbitrary day, like May 12th or July 27th or something like that? Who says you can only express your love for someone on the one day that Hallmark and See's and all the flower shops say you should?!?!
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