have a heart
Since my crush and I recently broke, chances are, I’ll be on my own for Valentine’s Day this year. Sigh. That’s a big sigh, readers. But before I start feeling sorry for myself, I have to remember, I don’t much care for this sticky greeting card holiday anyway. At least not since elementary school, when we hung oversized heart envelopes onto our desks in anticipation of the valentine exchange, have I gotten excited over V-day.
I’m not so impressed by chocolates and flowers. Don’t get me wrong. I like candy. And I love fresh flowers. But I just never went in for that whole slinky-seduction scene. It always struck me as silly, and rather contrived.
I’ve received some pretty impressive gifts from admiring swains over the years. But you can’t put a price on them.
Once in high school, a boy “bought” me a Greek slave on Latin Club day. The poor kid had to trail me from class to class for an entire day. Once I got over my acute embarrassment, I quickly saw the benefits of my first-ever employee and put him to work carrying my books and cleaning out my locker.
Another time, a boy handcuffed himself to me, to show me how much he cared. It was all fun and games until he couldn’t locate the key. I dragged him from class to class too, much to his embarrassment, until he remembered how to let me go.
One young fellow even scratched our initials inside of a heart on a tree. Probably not the most eco-friendly gift, but incredibly memorable all the same.
And in my adult years, I’ve had songs written for me, meals cooked for me, poems dedicated in my honor and in recent times, heartfelt emails and even blogs that I suspect were written with me in mind.
I treasure them. Somehow, in some small way, they transported me back to a time when a valentine was a real valentine, no matter when it was received. I felt joyous, and thought fondly of sweet longings in a faraway classroom. Visions of chalk clouds clapped from erasers and long afternoons spent gazing wistfully out the window at the green, green grass.
If you’re thinking of giving a valentine to someone you admire from afar, love deeply or just like and respect a whole lot, I offer some words of encouragement and some heartfelt advice:
Be bold. Take a chance this leap year and do something different; something unexpected. Show the person you care about that you really do care. Make it memorable and make it sweet. Make up for all of your wrongdoings with one honest, romantic gesture. Most important of all, make it something you know that they’d love to receive.
Wherever you are in the world on February 14th, I hope you’re happy, loved and well cared for. That’s all any of us can hope for.
I’m not so impressed by chocolates and flowers. Don’t get me wrong. I like candy. And I love fresh flowers. But I just never went in for that whole slinky-seduction scene. It always struck me as silly, and rather contrived.
I’ve received some pretty impressive gifts from admiring swains over the years. But you can’t put a price on them.
Once in high school, a boy “bought” me a Greek slave on Latin Club day. The poor kid had to trail me from class to class for an entire day. Once I got over my acute embarrassment, I quickly saw the benefits of my first-ever employee and put him to work carrying my books and cleaning out my locker.
Another time, a boy handcuffed himself to me, to show me how much he cared. It was all fun and games until he couldn’t locate the key. I dragged him from class to class too, much to his embarrassment, until he remembered how to let me go.
One young fellow even scratched our initials inside of a heart on a tree. Probably not the most eco-friendly gift, but incredibly memorable all the same.
And in my adult years, I’ve had songs written for me, meals cooked for me, poems dedicated in my honor and in recent times, heartfelt emails and even blogs that I suspect were written with me in mind.
I treasure them. Somehow, in some small way, they transported me back to a time when a valentine was a real valentine, no matter when it was received. I felt joyous, and thought fondly of sweet longings in a faraway classroom. Visions of chalk clouds clapped from erasers and long afternoons spent gazing wistfully out the window at the green, green grass.
If you’re thinking of giving a valentine to someone you admire from afar, love deeply or just like and respect a whole lot, I offer some words of encouragement and some heartfelt advice:
Be bold. Take a chance this leap year and do something different; something unexpected. Show the person you care about that you really do care. Make it memorable and make it sweet. Make up for all of your wrongdoings with one honest, romantic gesture. Most important of all, make it something you know that they’d love to receive.
Wherever you are in the world on February 14th, I hope you’re happy, loved and well cared for. That’s all any of us can hope for.
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