Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!! I have to admit, I kind of love this holiday. I obviously didn’t care for it much when I was single, but I just love it now. I also admit that I love the commercialism of it…there, I said it!! I know people say all the time how holidays are “so commercial” and that the true meaning of holidays can get lost. While I believe that can be true, it’s not with me. I love holidays for what they are supposed to be, AND I love the commercialism of them. I love to see hearts and chocolates and teddy bears on Valentine’s Day. I love “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” T-shirts, clovers, and green beer on St. Patrick’s Day. I love fireworks and red/white/blue EVERYTHING on Independence Day. I love pumpkins and ghosts on Halloween, turkeys and cornucopias on Thanksgiving, and I love each and every little commercial thing about Christmas.

But I also love meanings. I feel incredibly patriotic when I hear “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood every year. Sometimes I even get a little teary. Because in those few minutes of the song, I think about how I AM proud to be an American. I am blessed to be living in America, and I always think about that when I hear that song…usually during the “commercial” fireworks. =)

I think Thanksgiving ties with Christmas as my favorite holiday. Partly for the food, and partly because I love coming together with loved ones to eat and think about everything I have to be thankful for.

And of course there is Christmas. I cannot wait to have kids and have a much different kind of Christmas with them than I had growing up. Sure, there were presents and commercialism GALORE at my house as a kid (as there will be at our house with our future children). But my parents sadly never made a point to remind us what Christmas was really all about. The only time I heard anything about the true meaning was when I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, and as a child I had no idea what Linus was talking about. It was my least favorite part of the movie. Now it’s probably my favorite part. It’s a sweet, touching moment.

And I want that for my kids…to be aware of and celebrate the meaning of these big commercial holidays, but to know it’s ALSO okay to enjoy the commercialism.

So a few quick “Did you know?”s about Valentine’s Day. It actually is thought to honor up to seven people, although no one knows much about many of them. Valentine of Rome was martyred in 269 AD (Wikipedia says only that he was a “Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome”). Today, tourists visit the church in Dublin where the Saint’s remains are carried to the high altar for a mass “dedicated to young people and all those in love”. The holiday wasn’t linked to anything to do with romance until the 14th century, when Chaucer wrote a little something to honor the engagement anniversary of King Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. Apparently he was referring to a different Valentine in his poem, but Valentine’s Day being a romantic holiday seems to have “started” around then.

The traditional poem we all know and have seen variations of over the years is from a collection of English nursery rhymes called “Gammer Gurton’s Garland” from 1784, and it goes like this:

“The rose is red, the violet's blue
The honey's sweet, and so are you
Thou are my love and I am thine
I drew thee to my Valentine
The lot was cast and then I drew
And Fortune said it shou'd be you.”

So there you go. That’s how everything got started, and you can impress people with your knowledge. J

And today is a holiday, as I said, I never much cared for when I was single. Before I met Andrew, I didn’t ever have a single valentine. I was always alone on Valentine’s Day. So for me, this holiday has only ever been mine and Andrew’s. I mentioned to him last night that nothing will ever top our first Valentine’s Day together. He picked me up at my house to spend the weekend with him for the first time. He brought me flowers and we were both dressed up. It was our first time at Chamberlain’s Steak and Chop House (now our favorite restaurant) and my first time to step outside my comfort zone and try new foods (I tried a crab cake that came with my bisque, which is now one of my favorite foods). We stopped at Target on our way back to his apartment and bought stuff to make s’mores and we got this Italian instrumental CD I’d been wanting. We used wire coat hangers to roast marshmallows in his fireplace (not the smartest idea, they got hot for our hands and we needed oven mitts) and made s’mores. We danced to some music from the CD and sat and talked quietly while the fire died down. It was absolutely perfect, and it was my very first REAL Valentine’s Day. We first said “I love you” on the 13th…it was all so wonderful. Ranks right up there with getting married, in my mind. And since that wonderful Valentine’s Day, Andrew has always gone out of his way to make me feel loved, safe, and happy. He is now, and forever will be, my one and only valentine. I love you so much, babe. Happy Valentine’s Day!