An Old Love Story, and a New Reminder About What V-Day is All About

Do you ever wonder the point of Valentine's Day?  Recently, I haven't given it much thought to be quite honest.  That may come as some disappointment to my wife, who already gave me chocolate-covered strawberries, bananas, a card and a kiss.  Unfortunately, the gift I was going to get her sold out: Craig Ferguson tickets for when he visits Austin on February 27.  Why's he gotta be so popular?

I don't know if Valentine's Day has ever meant a great deal to me, although I do remember as a kid there was this big to-do about this girl named Rhonda Calvillo.  To the best of my knowledge, there was tremendous pressure to give her something, most likely originating from the other kids at school.  I think others who happened to have a sweet thing for another gave items of affection.  Mind you, this is fifth grade I'm talking, for crying out loud.  Nevertheless, I bombed the day big time by not bringing anything to school that day.

So I went home, trying to think of anything -- something -- I could do.  Voila!  I found a bag of candy.  Yep, your ordinary bag of candy, sitting on the deep freeze.  "Dad, could you take me to Rhonda's?"  A two minute trip there got me to her front step, and I rang the doorbell anxiously, albeit not wanting to be there at all.  Her sister, I believe, came to the door.  When she saw me, a huge smile came to her face and she quickly yelled for Rhonda.

When Rhonda finally came to the door, which seemed like an eternity, my exact memory was that I threw the bag at her, and ran for it.  As my little legs tried to get me as far away from Rhonda as possible, I seemed to have noticed out of the corner of my eye a smile of appreciation from the girl for whom I had grown so strongly to adore.

I searched the Internet for Valentine's Day and came up with this Wikipedia definition:

Saint Valentine's Day (commonly shortened to Valentine's Day) is an annual holiday held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions.  The holiday is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD.  It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").  The holiday first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid.  Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

So Wikipedia's definition begs one to really ask if Valentine's Day is all about commercialism, or if it really is about love.  I've heard the argument that love shouldn't be expressed only at Valentine's Day, or that it should act as an excuse for a couple to tell each other how they feel, but it should be done year round.  Nor should the day be all about clipping ones pubic hair, as expressed in this hilarious Onion article.

I guess love is all about the day-to-day stuff.  I don't think it should be forced, like the throw and go bag of candy and the story of Rhonda Calvillo.  I think a lot of times, we all forget (a big ME included) how to express that love.  But if you look closely, it's there, in the smallest of ways and in the most unusual of places. 

Tell the one you love today - and everyday - that you love them.  I can tell you I love my wife like crazy, and that little baby of ours is the love of my life as well.  Valentine's Day is simply a reminder of how much that love matters during the rest of the 364 days in the year.