When did I actually start liking Valentine’s Day? I suppose I remember liking it as a child, but then again what kid doesn’t like a holiday that focuses on candy? I suppose the better question would be when did I stop liking Valentine’s Day?
Thinking back, it happened sometime in early high school. I became aware that unlike in grade school, you didn’t have to give all of your classmates a Valentine, which also meant that you also weren’t guaranteed to get any. It was also the transition from getting them from your classmates to you were supposed to get them from the opposite sex. That right there is the reason why I stopped liking Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day became a holiday that was exclusively for lovers, couples, and those that had someone interested in them. As luck would have it, I have never been super popular with the opposite sex, so Valentine’s Day not only became off limits to me, it also became a holiday that made me feel bad about myself. It whispered in my ear that if I were cuter or smarter that surely I would have a date, or someone would give me flowers, or at least buy me a Hershey’s candy bar.
So, I became the Valentine’s Day Grinch, a person whose heart was two sizes too small, at least concerning Valentine’s Day. I declared how ridiculous the holiday was and that it was only celebrated by people who weren’t romantic the other 364 days of the year. (Yes, I now realize this is not true.) So, I boycotted it. It wasn’t hard since once again, no one was banging down my door, pleading me to go out on a date with them.
Fast forward about ten years and you will see a different person, someone whose heart is perhaps two sizes too large. You will see someone who actually enjoys Valentine’s Day. (You can start gasping now.) It’s not just because I am married, although I am sure that deep down the feeling of being wanted by my spouse does help. Instead, I think the change of heart is more due to a changed perspective. It took me a while, but I now see it as a day to show the people that I love how much I love them. This doesn’t have to be my husband or son, although they get the brunt of my love. There are so many amazing people in my life. I finally woke up and realized it was a chance to stop focusing on romance and focus on relationships. Like most things in life, I wish that I had learned this when I was younger, but better late than never. I am sure I am not the only person to have this eureka moment, nor will I be the last. Either way, I am glad I had it.
So, Valentine’s day meant spending the day loving on Edmund, making a nice dinner of roasted salmon for my husband (the way to his heart is his stomach), and then hanging out with friends and playing games. Although I did buy Eric a small box of chocolates and Edmund a cute onesie,
wrote loving blog posts for my men, and Eric did surprise me with flowers,
those aren’t the things that I will remember. I will remember the love from and for the people in my life.
In the amazingly wonderful words of Ralph Waldo Emerson “Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself.”
Hope you all shared your love and a little bit of thyself on Valentine’s Day.
-Anna
