One of my favorite holidays as a child was Valentines Day. At school we had a card board box covered with construction paper and cut out hearts, much like the one above. Valentines were a big deal back in those days. The selection was minimal and lots of kids had the same ones, since our shopping areas were limited.
This was the time when you took that first step toward "love". None of us were quite sure what love was all about , but we knew that on that one day some of the boys smelled a little better and their hair was carefully combed. We always gave everyone in the class a Valentine. You were just very careful not to give the chronic booger picker the following:
We would spend the day before the party cutting out hearts and making banners for the classroom. The night before was spent at home carefully finding the perfectly worded Valentine for that special one. If you were lucky your mom would get you some of candy hearts with all the right words that you couldn't bear your shy tongue to say.
You would put one in the little envelope and covertly watch as he opened his card. Hopefully, he would smile or in some cases come over and hit you on the head as in an ape- like gesture of "yeah, me too". What a great and innocent rite of passage. I don't know if they still have the Valentine Box and give out candy. It probably is no longer politically correct and I suppose this year the must have Valentines are Fifty Shades of Grey themed... I can see it now, tiny candies with TIE ME UP, SPANK ME and CUFF ME stamped into them.As we got older and non the wiser, we began to have our eyes opened to the pressure and social expectations on Valentines Day. No longer are we happy with tiny candy hearts. High school age girls now regularly get floral deliveries of roses and balloons from sweet hearts and from their parents to the school. I suppose we will forever be a society of the haves and the have nots. I just feel bad for the invisible girls, it is so hard at that age the best you can do.
Soon the illusions of romance come to fruition and you realize that that cute little winged cupid now looks similar to this:
And on this note I want to say something to the men. Never ever believe your wife or girlfriend doesn't want a Valentine gift. That is one of the biggest falsities your significant other will ever tell you. If she says "Let's don't get each other anything this Valentines Day" DO NOT believe for a minute you are getting ready to slide on this one... a woman always wants something special on Valentines Day. She will wait all day on that surprise gift and if it doesn't materialize, it's going to be a frosty night. Trust me , I know. A little romance and thoughtfulness goes a long way in preventing you from being Fifty Shades of Black and Blue. Now ladies I think you will appreciate the following:
This is classic and probably more true than we would like to admit:
Many moons have passed since the excitement of the Valentine Box. Now the TV is constantly bombarding us with someone going to Jerrods or God forbid every kiss begins with Kays. I thought I was pretty open minded but I really get annoyed with this:
As yet another Valentines Days comes and goes, I will be blissfully unaware of the traffic, stress and long lines at all area restaurants.
I have purchased my own Valentine and this is how I will celebrate tomorrow night:
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