I
don’t have a whole lot of really great Valentine’s Day memories. My
long stint of singleness hasn’t helped that scenario either. But I
loathe it a little less every year, and this year I really don’t loathe
it at all. I think I have some sick satisfaction in the fact that V.D.
falls on a Monday this year. It is therefore, tainted! It can’t be
perfectly happy and lovely because... IT’S MONDAY! Though I personally
don’t hold any permanent/long standing ill will against Mondays, I know
most people do. And... that is enough to make me not feel quite so bad
about the fact that I’ll spend my Valentine’s Evening on the couch with
Beaux... eating leftovers and Girl Scout cookies.
I
was reminiscing this morning about Valentine’s Days past. Being that I
was an only child my Mom always did holidays big - Christmas,
Valentine’s Day, my Birthday, Easter - she was good at them! Even once I
moved to Florida she would send me care packages to brighten my day.
When money got tighter this stopped, but I have to say that is one
thing I will definitely miss. She would send Reese’s peanut butter
hearts and other yummies.
I
remember the Valentine’s Day that we lived in Boca Raton, FL. It would
have been 1991. Oh, my word it was 20 years ago. Suddenly I feel
ancient! Okay, anyway. I came downstairs before school and there was a
whole array of Valentine’s fun on the counter for me. There was candy
and a pink camera (that took 110 film btw) and other fun stuff. She was
always a really good gift giver!
Even
though on several Valentine’s Days I had a boyfriend they didn’t go to
school with me. Which usually made for a bittersweet V.D. Especially
considering every year there was this carnation fund raiser at school.
You could purchase a carnation and it would be delivered, usually
during class, on V.D. There were white ones for friends, pink ones for
secret admirers and red ones for love. It would have been very simple
for my boyfriends (There were only two... and not at the same time.) to
give a friend of mine some money to purchase me a carnation, but this
apparently never crossed their minds. I received very few carnations as
a result, and the ones I did get were of course from my girl friends.
Not all together terrible, but I suppose that’s what I got for dating
older guys that didn’t go to my school!
So,
yes, I had the knack for snagging an older boy... or at least I did,
twice... anyway, one V.D. I decided I was going to bake my special
someone some cookies. Now I wasn’t quite the Betty Crocker that I am
now, but I managed to roll out some pre-made dough, cut out hearts, bake
them without burning them and ice them. I packaged them all up with a
card and delivered them. I don’t remember how I delivered them, but
what I do remember is the next occurrence in the timeline of this story.
Whether it was the same day, or a few days later, we were at church
and my BF’s roommate came up to me and said, “Those cookies were really
good.” (Okay, sweet of him to share.) “They were much better than the
fudge the other girl made him.” My mouth dropped open. “Fudge? What
fudge?” Little did I know before I delivered the cookies my boyfriend
had already received fudge FROM ANOTHER GIRL! Did he tell me? NO! I
felt ridiculous. Had I known some other girl had already given him
fudge I would have done something more. I mean, I was dating a starving
college student and we all know food is the way to a man’s heart. But
had I known SOME OTHER GIRL had already given him food I would have
stepped up my game. It was not the end of our relationship, but let me
just tell you he never lived that down. (And obviously still hasn’t
since it has surfaced in this blog!)
I’ve
never been on a romantic Valentine’s date or anything like that. For
years I called it Crapentine’s Day. I even attempted to remove
Febreuary 14th from my life all together by having the 13th, 13.5, and
then the 15th. I swore that even if I was in a relationship I would
hate VD because “if my man loved me he wouldn’t need a special day to
buy me presents and take me to dinner.” While I still believe you
shouldn’t need a special day to do those things I’ve changed my tune a
bit. I look forward to the day when I get to have plans with my tall,
good looking honey. (If anyone mentions the creeper at church you will
suffer the consequences of such actions!) Whether it’s out at a nice
restaurant or dinner at home and a movie on the couch... it will be nice
to some day spend VD with someone special. And if someone special
should decide to add to the day by purchasing me something sparkly (and
rather expensive) from Tiffany’s I won’t fault him for that. ;-)
(Ironically Material Girl is playing on Pandora right now.)
That’s
my little trip down Valentine’s Day memory lane for you! Whether it’s
Valentine’s Day, Crapentine’s Day, Single Awareness Day or just plain
old Monday, I hope you have a happy day!
Side
Note: There’s this thing going around Facebook “To celebrate
Valentine's Day, change your profile pic to you and your sweetie and
make sure you tell how long you have been together!” I’ve been tempted
to put up a picture of Beaux and I! Ha!
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