Valentine

            I’ve struggled mightily with St. Valentine’s Days over the last few years; mainly because I have been without an actual Valentine to shower with affection and trinkets of devotion and love. I do enjoy doting affection and an ‘I Love You’ wink from across the room to my special lady friend. There is simply no greater feeling in the world than when they wink back and smile.

            I think Valentine’s Day is more than just a cookie cutter holiday. It’s a validation of being wanted and wanting someone back. It’s supposed to reinforce those feelings of devotion and lusty loving. I feel like there’s something incredibly special and unique about two people, from completely different backgrounds, getting together and discovering how much they mean to each other and how they’re lives would be less rich without each other. I think Valentine’s Day should remind us just how amazingly lucky we are. (If your significant other is not reminding you of these things then perhaps it’s time for a new significant other).

 I’ve had some great Valentine’s and some incredibly not so great ones. I think they were all charged with emotion however. A few have been bold expressions of love and desire; other’s have been gut wrenching lightening bolts of pain and heartache. Each Valentine’s Day has added to my emotional make up and if I ever have another special Valentine’s Sweetheart I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to do it right. For the right person that is.

I can’t say I’m disappointed to be alone on Valentine’s Day because I don’t actually feel all that alone. I know I have a lot of people in my life who genuinely care about me and may even love me a little (but just haven’t said it). So I’m not overwhelmed with sadness or some bittersweet chocolate heart hell. I’ll see the smiles I want to see tonight and imagine the rest. I’ll resist any temptation to feel jealous of the couples around me as they kiss and coo and generally fill the room with steamy love. (I will also resist the temptation to violently vomit candy hearts).

Allow me to digress a little bit; I am disappointed that I don’t have a special someone to share Valentine’s Day with. I know I have people in my life that care, but I certainly would still like a special woman to lavish romantic attention on. And that she would like to reciprocate that attention. I’ve sent flowers to women in the past who were happy to receive them but didn’t consider me in “that way”.  Cupid’s arrow stings like the dickens, especially if he misses the heart.

All in all, I don’t hate St. Valentine’s Day. I think it’s a wonderful holiday for people to celebrate and honor the amazing in each other. It may seem trite and silly for a couple to just go out to dinner and have a little wine and complain about work or the kids or how they might not get that vacation this year. Trust me, from the eyes of the single guy who hasn’t been anyone’s Valentine in a very long time; it’s a golden moment between two people that were lucky enough to have met in the first place. Just don’t talk about money.  

Happy St. Valentine’s Day all you lovers of love out there. What do you think of St. Valentine’s Day?