Valentine's Day

OK, I get it.  I realize that many folks don't like VDay.  The way I see it, it's all in what you make it.  Back in my single days, on the years when I was thinking more rationally, rather than having a pity party that I was solo for Valentine's, I used it as an excuse to shower my friends/roommates with love in the form of flowers, silly cards, girly things, etc.

Yeah, it's a made-up commercial holiday.  Yes, I ABSOLUTELY agree that, if you're in a relationship, what you do every day matters more than something you do only once a year.  That being said, there ARE folks for whom occasions like VDay, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. are huge.

Don't like the whole focus on romance (kids at T1's high school celebrated "Singles' Awareness Day" yesterday)?  Well, think of it as being about love in general.  If memory serves (and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), the ancient Greeks had (at least) four different words for "love":

• phileo - friendship love, "brotherly" love
• eros - romantic love
• agape - sacrificial love
• storge - family-type love, like a mother's love for her child

Don't wanna think about eros?  Focus on and celebrate phileo or storge if those are big in your life!

VALENTINE MEMORIES:

As any long-time readers know, I'm one of "those" people - people for whom VDay, anniversaries, etc. are A REAL BIG DEAL(tm), to the point of, "If we don't celebrate on the actual day, it doesn't count!"  I've mellowed over time and become (a bit) more flexible, but they still mean a lot to me.  Some of my favorite Valentine memories are....

....the little things my mom used to do for us on VDay (I still have one large, heart-covered coffee mug she gave me one year) and the single red rose my dad used to give each of us every year.

....the year I was pregnant with Thing One.  We couldn't plan in advance because we didn't know if I'd feel up to doing anything.  We ended up going to The Moss Beach Distillery, eating in the very crowded downstairs cafe, talking over baby names, and watching the sunset. While we were there, a guy I'd known since college days arrived with his just-accepted-his-proposal fiancee and another couple.

....the year I was eight months pregnant with Thing Two.  I had broken my right foot two weeks before on Super Bowl Sunday, then fallen off my crutches a few days later.  We couldn't go out because I was on strict bed rest, but we needed some kid-free time together.  A single gal from church came over, borrowed our car (with kid car seat), and took Thing One to Chuck E. Cheese's for a few hours.  I got "dressed up" (put on a red maternity t-shirt), and we ate take-out Chinese food on the bed, then fell asleep for a couple of hours.  May not sound like much, but it was just what we needed right then.

....the year we went to dinner at a local hotel.  Andrew said he had bought their "special Valentine package" for us.  Turned out the package included a room.  Unfortunately, we had lost our overnight babysitter at the last minute (through no fault of her own).  We chilled for a while, and the next morning, Andrew went back on his way to work and ate the room service breakfast for two that was included in the package, LOL.