Love Is In The Air

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and was originally a pagan festival of love, which was taken over by the Church and disapproved of for it's romantic and sexual connotations, and renamed for "Saint Valentine" and a day for martyrs. This day is commonly connected with the exchanging of Valentines Day cards and other such tokens of affection like heart shaped boxes of chocolates and large bouquets of red roses.... symbols including heart-shaped outlines, white doves, and figures of little winged cherubs named cupid are seen everywhere. I still remember to this day how incredibly important it was to put together the perfect cards for your friends and that cute boy that sat next to you in English class (after all, this was THE day that it was totally acceptable to make sure you gave him the best card without drawing taunts or jokes from your other classmates!) It's changed a bit since I was in school and now my children are writing out cards and giggling about that boy or girl of interest and which card should they give to them and I find myself thinking of what this day really means. Where did the days go that found you coloring and gluing red felt and white lace scraps together, actually making your Valentines with your own two hands? Ah, those were the days.... when everything seemed a little more special because you came up with the idea and put it together all by yourself...the days mom baked late into the night, frosting pink and white cupcakes with colorful sprinkles for the great occasion the next day, the days you wrote out poems in the very best handwriting that you could muster in order to impress that special someone that you just couldn't come right out and admit you were smitten with? Have I really gotten that old ( I'm almost older than dirt)...have times changed so much that that kind of effort is no longer the in thing to do? Tomorrow, I ask you to think of those you love and just pull them aside and tell them how special they are to you and that they will always be the most important people in your life, tell them thank-you for simply being themselves and then plant a big fat juicy kiss right on their cheek!