Valentine’s Day for All
By: Christina Frost
Ah…February. Feels like winter has been sticking around for a while now and many of us are looking forward to springtime’s bright and vibrant curtain call.
Until then, can I tell you my three favorite things about February? Groundhog Day (I love a quirky holiday no one is quite sure what to do with), Superbowl Sunday (always a great chance to get together with our fellow Americans, eat some fun snacks, and root for at least one team to win) and Valentine’s Day…Kind of your February festive highlights.
Now I put Valentine’s Day last because Valentine’s Day tends to be a polarizing holiday. Some people adore it and others have strong feelings against it. I know I have felt both ways at different times in my life. As a kid, I loved Valentine’s Day. It was so fun sitting down and hand picking little Valentine’s Day cards for all my elementary school classmates which we would then go around and place in everyone’s decorated paper bags to show them a little extra love.
Then somewhere along the way, I started to notice Valentine’s Day appeared to center around couples and people in romantic relationships. Suddenly I was left out of the celebratory love loop because I didn’t have a special someone bringing me flowers or chocolates. And I’ll admit, this made me extremely unhappy and turn my nose up at Valentine’s Day. Happy Singles Awareness day, am I right?
Then as I got older I started watching those around me…I noticed other singles who also struggled with their lack of romantic relationships or ones they had lost in years past. I noticed those who were already in relationships but who weren’t celebrated anyway. I noticed all the people who felt jaded toward a commercialized holiday inundated by overpriced flowers and too high of romantic expectations (i.e. where’s this grand expression of “love” any other day of the year?) Seems like I wasn’t the only person in the world who had mixed feelings about it.
But I couldn’t shake my happy memories of Valentine’s Day as a kid. Why couldn’t I bring some of that magic back into my adult life? Okay sure, not everyone might have the Valentine’s Day they wish they could have, and I couldn’t necessarily give that to them, but maybe I could make both of our Valentine’s Day’s better!
So some years I sent flowers to my friends who love flowers but weren’t going to get them on Valentine’s Day (whether because they didn’t have anyone or their significant other wouldn’t take the time to do it.)
Some years I threw or attended Valentine’s Day parties and showered fun on the people who attended.
Sometimes I would send or give cards to my friends and family members, just like I did when I was a kid. I hadn’t met my husband yet so these weren’t cards of romance–just an expression of abiding love from one human heart to another.
If we all work together, we could take back this ooey-gooey holiday and use it to surprise those who need a little extra appreciation this year. We could leave our postal people with some heart-shaped treat to get them through the rest of their busy day. We could surprise a co-worker with a gift basket or a stuffed plushie. Keep in mind, these are not romantic gestures (let’s not make it weird). We are simply offering tokens of gratitude and admiration to those we care about and making their lives, and ours, a little more meaningful in the process.
Everyone wants to be thought of and celebrated and each of us has the power to make that happen on Valentine’s Day!
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