It's Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I don’t care how fashionable it may be for people to loathe this candy-filled, Hallmark-sponsored, commerically-hijacked holiday—the fact is that I absolutely and fundamentally love Valentine’s Day.

My love for Valentine’s Day is not contingent on whether or not I have a date or if I am in a committed relationship. I honestly could care less about receiving the standard fare of chocolates, flowers, or spangly jewels. I do not require fancy dinners or lavish displays of affection (so at this point, I am probably every man’s dream woman!). Valentine’s Day, in its pure, unadulterated form, is not about the crass commercialism of love but is rather a day set aside to remember God’s gift of interpersonal relationships, romantic and otherwise.

Perhaps my affinity towards this day is deeply rooted in childhood. I remember in elementary school, Valentine’s was easily the best day of the year. For starters, we made our own Valentine’s “mail boxes,” either out of a literal box (generally of the shoebox variety), or a metaphorical “box” constructed cheaply out of public school sanctioned brown paper lunch sacks and construction paper. The best part was playing postman/postwoman and delivering Valentines into each student’s personal mailboxes. I used to spend a large portion of Valentine’s Day Eve painstainkingly filling out names on my Garfield Valentines, making sure that my friends/crushes received the “cool” Valentines. At a young age, I already displayed universalist tendencies, as I made sure every child in my class received a valentine from me and not just the children who ran in my social circle. In the afternoon, we would dump our Valentines on our desks, and sort through the cards and candy, occassionally delighting in special Valentine from a dear friend or unrequited love.

I used to (and still do!) dress accordingly for Valentine’s Day, wearing the appropriate colors for the day (red and pink) and, when I was still in the single digits, the white tights with little hearts patterned on them. Let it never be said that I lacked enthusiasm or style! In 1st grade, I took it even further, when I begged my mother to purchase a pair of red patent leather shoes, for the express purpose of wearing them on Valentine’s Day. She obliged and I cannot recall feeling that steeped in couture until my high school prom.

To this day, I honor Valentines by continuing to pass out cheesy little Valentines—this year, I chose a Simpsons theme, hoping that the thinly veiled cynicism and irony would mollify even my most jaded and love-lorn of friends. I also consumed a fair quantity of chocolate, candy hearts, and imbibed many drinks containing that most potent of passion-inducing elixers, alcohol. Valentine's Day should not be a day for cynicism, but should be a day of celebration of the love we have and a day of hope for the love we may yet find. With this in mind, plus the providence of free candy, what is not to like?