Valentine's Day

Ah, Valentine’s Day.  I used to plan for this day for weeks when I was dating and first married.  I would do flowers, a card, chocolates, a stuffed animal and make plans for dinner out.  The flowers would be thrown to the side and eventually put in water.  The card was read and disappeared one minute later.  Even the chocolates ended up on a shelf, not to be touched for several months.  Then we would go to the restaurant and wait two hours for a table.  Once we were seated, we always had a stressed out waitress who gave poor service.  Don’t get me wrong.  It wasn’t all bad.  Early on my wife showed her appreciation for the gifts though she never could never appreciate the effort I went to in order to make the day special.  As time went by I scaled back.  First, to go were animals and the chocolates.  She didn’t seem to miss them.  Then we gave up on fighting the crowds and just ate dinner at home.  There was no complaint.  Next to go was the card.  I never understood the point of giving a card to a person you were physically seeing.  Growing up, cards were what you sent people far away who you weren’t able to see.  It never made sense to me to spend $6 on a card to tell someone right in front of you that you love them.   Maybe I’m the weird one.  Anyway, nothing was said but I could tell the card was missed.  So I brought back the card.  When it comes to roses I have another rule.  If I give you the flowers, you put them in the vase.  One year for Valentine’s Day she left the roses out for over a day until they were dead and wilted.  I decided right then that she was spoiled and would get no more roses.  When her birthday came up I didn’t buy the flowers.  She asked why and I bluntly told her that she didn’t appreciate them.  That went over like a lead balloon!  The next Valentine’s Day she received both a card and roses.  We go out to dinner after all the madness in the restaurants.  Put aside all the commercialism and this holiday comes down to spending time with someone you love.  I’m lucky that I don’t have to put on a show to enjoy being with my wife.  We are happy just being together.  Maybe that’s what today is really all about.   Happy Valentine’s Day!