I HEART Valentine’s Day!
I love Valentine’s Day. I absofrickingtutely love Valentine’s Day.
If you strip it down to the bare-bones of Valentine’s Day, what’s not to love?
Valentine’s Day makes me think of lace doilies, candy hearts, roses, and ribbons, shades of red, pink, burgundy, white and cream. If I could grow up to be a Valentine, I would. Because I can’t imagine a better job than being wrapped up in soft satins and laces with ribbons in my curls.
The first time I ever realized that maybe Valentine’s day wasn’t all it was cracked up to be was one late night Wal-Mart adventure during my Senior year of high school. Corrie and I were wandering the florescent lit aisles for no good reason other than we were 17 and we lived in Flagstaff.
It was like any other late-night Wal-Mart diversion, until we came to the Valentine’s Day aisle.
All of a sudden something went totally bat-shit in Corrie and she just started running down the aisle screaming, “I hate Valentine’s day! Ahhhhh!” Punching the singing gorillas and cuddly stuffed bears and cats holding signs that read, “I love you!”
I was completely shocked.
How could anyone punch a pink plush pony that was telling you, “Be my Valentine.”
“Valentine’s Day is stupid,” she said and we continued on as we were before, only suddenly my little world had been turned upside-down.
Was Valentine’s Day stupid?
Early back as I could remember Valentine’s Day was freaking awesome. Instead of crunching my five-year-old face over addition, I was making heart-shaped mailboxes and Valentine’s Day projects for my mom instead of trying to write on dotted lines.
On the splendid day itself everyone would come to class with a bag full of valentines, some carefully homemade, some store bought (lame). By the end of the morning our little heart-shaped construction paper mailboxes would be full to over-flowing with pastel colored treats, chocolate kisses and paper creations. It was even more awesome when Hershey’s came out with “hugs.”
I remember making sure not to give any of the boys anything too romantic.
“Happy Valentines’ day, you like bugs, so I guess you’re o.k.”
I even would have special Valentine’s Day outfits planned out. I even made my hair red for the first time in honor of Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day only revealed itself to be lame post-high school. Suddenly, the only person who gave me a paper heart was my mom.
I first realized this after bringing home-made lace and paper valentines to all my friends at the Applesauce Teahouse.
“Uh…thanks Clair. I didn’t get you anything…”
Thus starts the cycle of crappy Valentine’s Days.
However, I didn’t realize how much better being single is on Valentine’s Day is than having a boyfriend on Valentine’s day until I was in my early 20’s and somehow the planets aligned and I was dating someone in winter for the first time ever.
“I got you a Valentine! Happy Valentine’s day!” I said, presenting a paper heart thing.
“Oh, it’s Valentine’s day?” boring boyfriend says.
“Yeah!”
“Oh sorry, I didn’t get you anything.”
At first I thought he was playing a trick on me, and looked around the apartment hoping to catch a glimpse of a box of chocolates…
I saw something shiny on top of the refrigerator and got really excited until I realized it was a half-eaten bag of chips.
I realized then he was serious. He didn’t get me a valentine.
He didn’t like me at all.
All those years of thinking Valentine ’s Day would be awesome if you had a boyfriend on Valentine’s Day and I was….wrong?
I was fooled into thinking Valentine’s Day would always be paper hearts and roses, I just forgot that if I let expectations get blown to the same extreme proportions as I do on my birthday I might find myself disappointed.
After all, all I want for Valentine’s Day is a paper heart. And everyone knows I’m the Queen of gluing stuff to stuff. I can make my own doily and paper heart.
I found the secret of Valentine’s Day contentment, “Be your Own Valentine.”
A little romance is a bonus.
(Update: It would be unlawful not to mention that since that last Valentine’s Day in the story, all the other Valentine’s Day are back to my standard of excellence.)
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