Valentines...

I've never been into this particular holiday. When I was younger, we would do the Valentine exchange deal at school. We'd be instructed to bring a shoe box from home that we would decorate in the appropriate reds and pinks...tissue paper hearts and paper doilies...lots of Elmer's and a heavy sprinkling of glitter. Then we would hack a slot into the top big enough for a Valentine to be shoved through. We'd place our adorned receptacles on the corner of our desks, and then the covert operations would begin. We would 'flip our lids' and check out the valentines we received towards the end of the school day, but up until that point the cards would be deposited in as secretive a manner as possible. I hated the yearly Valentines school ritual. You pretty much had to give everyone in class a card. It was considered rude not to. I've always considered myself to be a person who can get along with anyone, but let's face it...when we were kids there were just some kids in our classes that we didn't like. For whatever reason. Giving them a card seemed to a) send the wrong message, or b) would be seen as being phony. If a fellow student you didn't really care for received a card from you, heaven forbid one of your friends see you slip it through the slot. You see, the person you didn't really care for most likely didn't care for you in return, so when they opened your card it was tolerated and tossed back in the box...your friends none the wiser. Then there is the card for 'the crush'...the person you don't really mind giving a valentine to. The adolescent Valentines Day adrenaline rush from hell. Your friends know all about this one. However, in this case you didn't want the crush to see you drop it in. Then when the big reveal came later on you would have that excited yet paranoid internal babble going on..."Is he opening mine? I can't see if that's...NO! I can't look. Is he looking at me? If I look at him and he's looking at me I'll be so embarrassed. What? He's talking to one of his friends...are they talking about me? I wonder if he likes me, too. Go ask his friend if he likes me. No don't! What if he comes over to talk to me? What do I say?" And so on, and so forth. Ah, the insanity of youth. I will say that the valentines we bought back then were a lot better than the ones today. The cards of the 60's and 70's were cut into shapes, had cute pictures and sayings on them...they were just a whole lot cooler than the crap-o boxed ones you can buy for a buck these days. Well, that being said...I still hated having to give them out.



Now to the present. Valentines Day still isn't a holiday I'm much into, although it does have a bit more meaning this time. I think for most people, February 14th signifies love they have for their significant other. That definitely applies for me, too, but I find myself looking at the word 'Love' in a broader sense, as well. The different types/aspects of love. Love for my boyfriend. Love for my family. Love for my friends. Love for myself. I am so thankful for all of the people in my life. So...Valentines Day 2010...my own personal love fest. To all of the people in my life, I love you all. Differently. And some more than others. ;)