On Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was named after St. Valentine, but nobody seems to care about that guy these days. So that leaves me in a grammatical crisis: do I call it "Valentine's Day" as in the day that belongs to Valentine? Or "Valentines Day" as in the day of the giving of the valentines? It's a puzzlement, I tell you.

I actually really like Valentine's Day. Obviously we should let people know that we love them more than once a year, but I do like the idea of a day honed particularly for that expression.

People tend to associate the day with romantic love only. They moan, "I'm single again on Valentine's Day?" Well, my friend, if you're one of those people, allow me to point out that at some point in life a great many people get married, and then from that point on they have someone to spend Valentine's Day with forever and ever. So actually, your number of Valentine's Days as a single person are probably limited. I would suggest making good use of these special-edition days. Since you don't have a romantic interest to focus on, maybe you should look out for other people who would appreciate gestures of platonic or familial love from you. Make as many people in your sphere of influence feel loved and appreciated on Valentine's Day as you possibly can within reasonable limits of expense, time, and effort.

Example: on what turned out to be her last Valentine's Day as a single person, La Petite brought me a card, a treat, and a stuffed frog. I was really excited that somebody had thought of me and tried to make my day special. Next year, you could be somebody's La Petite.

One last thought for you today: I'm not married. I've never been married. But I do know a lot of married people and so I've been speculating about what it might be like when I get there. Here's a thing I wrote in my journal that perhaps some other human in the world might find to be a useful perspective:

The truth is, is when marriage takes place you take all your flaws and insecurities and mistakes and sins and place them on the altar. Your spouse does the same. And you say to Heavenly Father, "Make us better than we are. We give away all these things to you. We sacrifice them all on this altar, so that we might be charitable and humble enough to become one and work together as one."

Anyways, happy day that belongs to St. Valentine and/or the day of the giving of the valentines. Whichever interpretation you prefer.