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Valentine's Day - Not just for couples
Nise's Notes
by Denise Schoppe
The Marlin Democrat
February 9, 2005
Perhaps it is due to the amount of advertising right now, promoting trinkets to give a loved one to show how much you care. I guess it could be because of the Valentine's greetings in this weeks Democrat. Or maybe it is because I celebrated the holiday this last weekend already.
Whatever the reason, I've been thinking a lot lately about the holiday we call Valentine's Day.
It's promoted as a day for couples, but in reality its a day to acknowledge the affection you have for any number of people in your life. Consider it something of a Hallmark-inspired Thanksgiving.
As grade school kids, the holiday is all about candy and that inevitable Valentine's Day party at the end of the school-day. That's when cards are exchanged, goodies devoured, and the children are sent home to detox from the sugar rush.
However, it is a moment for the students to acknowledge and appreciate their classmates. I remember putting together my Valentine's Day cards in those grade-school days. I'd carefully go through the box of cards my parents bought for me to give, and I'd select each card to fit each person. It forced me to pause a moment and even think about that one kid in class I'd probably never even talked to the whole year.
In the junior high and high school years, the day was all about who would be called down to the office to see their bouquet of flowers sent by their current boyfriend-of-the-month. All day long, the front office would smell of roses as every surface was covered with bouquet after bouquet. Those are the years in which it was "all about the love"... or atleast what everyone thought was love.
Upon graduation, you're dropped out into the real world, and this holiday takes on a slightly different tone. It's hardly a blip on the radar much of the time, until around half-way through January when it either means a hot date or a night of being reminded you're single.
As a single, you've got two ways to look at the day. You can either allow yourself to fall into the depths of dispair or you can take it as a day to celebrate yourself. Personally, I've done both.
There have been years in which I welcomed the day with open arms and spent the day celebrating myself. How much I liked myself and that I didn't need a significant other to "complete me." I bought myself chocolate and spent the evening chatting with fellow single girls as we bonded together over the day. It was actually a day in which my confidence level was at its highest.
Then, of course, there were the times I was unhappy over my own singleness, and I silently brooded over it. Didn't get me anywhere, so its not a course I'd recommend to anyone.
Now in a relationship, the day takes a new tone. Teased that "girls make too big of a deal over it" doesn't stop me from asking for a little extra attention as the holiday approaches. Humor me as I doodle little hearts and flowers as I get swept up in the holiday madness that is Valentines. Humor my request for a quiet dinner alone, and the fact that if I don't get something special that day I'll be invoking the silent treatment for a little while. I'm a girl, and yes... I make way too big of a deal over it.
To continue in the timeline of life, parents use the day to acknowledge the love of their children. As evidenced in this issue's greetings, children are indeed the most precious things in a parent's life, and Valentine's is a moment to spoil them for just a day. I still get a beautiful card from my parents every Valentine's day, as they remind me that they love me... and I hope they know I love them, too.
The media always totes the day as a day for couples. Roses. Chocolates. Jewlery. Teddy Bears. etc. It's all about that one special person in your life. However, in reality it's a day for everyone. Be the person a day old or over 100, Valentine's is a day to celebrate all the people we love, be it children, parents, siblings, that significant other, pets or even just yourself. Take the day to look around and feel the love you have for those around you, and to accept the love they have for you.
Nise's Notes
by Denise Schoppe
The Marlin Democrat
February 9, 2005
Perhaps it is due to the amount of advertising right now, promoting trinkets to give a loved one to show how much you care. I guess it could be because of the Valentine's greetings in this weeks Democrat. Or maybe it is because I celebrated the holiday this last weekend already.
Whatever the reason, I've been thinking a lot lately about the holiday we call Valentine's Day.
It's promoted as a day for couples, but in reality its a day to acknowledge the affection you have for any number of people in your life. Consider it something of a Hallmark-inspired Thanksgiving.
As grade school kids, the holiday is all about candy and that inevitable Valentine's Day party at the end of the school-day. That's when cards are exchanged, goodies devoured, and the children are sent home to detox from the sugar rush.
However, it is a moment for the students to acknowledge and appreciate their classmates. I remember putting together my Valentine's Day cards in those grade-school days. I'd carefully go through the box of cards my parents bought for me to give, and I'd select each card to fit each person. It forced me to pause a moment and even think about that one kid in class I'd probably never even talked to the whole year.
In the junior high and high school years, the day was all about who would be called down to the office to see their bouquet of flowers sent by their current boyfriend-of-the-month. All day long, the front office would smell of roses as every surface was covered with bouquet after bouquet. Those are the years in which it was "all about the love"... or atleast what everyone thought was love.
Upon graduation, you're dropped out into the real world, and this holiday takes on a slightly different tone. It's hardly a blip on the radar much of the time, until around half-way through January when it either means a hot date or a night of being reminded you're single.
As a single, you've got two ways to look at the day. You can either allow yourself to fall into the depths of dispair or you can take it as a day to celebrate yourself. Personally, I've done both.
There have been years in which I welcomed the day with open arms and spent the day celebrating myself. How much I liked myself and that I didn't need a significant other to "complete me." I bought myself chocolate and spent the evening chatting with fellow single girls as we bonded together over the day. It was actually a day in which my confidence level was at its highest.
Then, of course, there were the times I was unhappy over my own singleness, and I silently brooded over it. Didn't get me anywhere, so its not a course I'd recommend to anyone.
Now in a relationship, the day takes a new tone. Teased that "girls make too big of a deal over it" doesn't stop me from asking for a little extra attention as the holiday approaches. Humor me as I doodle little hearts and flowers as I get swept up in the holiday madness that is Valentines. Humor my request for a quiet dinner alone, and the fact that if I don't get something special that day I'll be invoking the silent treatment for a little while. I'm a girl, and yes... I make way too big of a deal over it.
To continue in the timeline of life, parents use the day to acknowledge the love of their children. As evidenced in this issue's greetings, children are indeed the most precious things in a parent's life, and Valentine's is a moment to spoil them for just a day. I still get a beautiful card from my parents every Valentine's day, as they remind me that they love me... and I hope they know I love them, too.
The media always totes the day as a day for couples. Roses. Chocolates. Jewlery. Teddy Bears. etc. It's all about that one special person in your life. However, in reality it's a day for everyone. Be the person a day old or over 100, Valentine's is a day to celebrate all the people we love, be it children, parents, siblings, that significant other, pets or even just yourself. Take the day to look around and feel the love you have for those around you, and to accept the love they have for you.
