Who needs Valentine’s Day?

It’s that time of year when my husband wishes the holiday could be just another day.  Instead, we’re celebrating yet another Valentine’s Day.  This will be our 25th celebration of the sweetheart holiday and you would think it would get easier for him.  Really, I’m not that difficult to please.  I don’t expect very much.  In fact, I really don’t need to celebrate Valentine’s Day at all.

What?  No Valentine’s Day? 

I know…it’s an awful thing to say.

I say this only because I’m one lucky lady to have found a wonderful man who tells me every single day of the year how much he loves and adores me.  I know, I’m getting mushy, but it’s the truth.  I am very thankful for the fact that it doesn’t take a particular holiday to guarantee my receipt of the affectionate words and hugs every partner should hear and receive daily.  He gives them to me freely, constantly and without end. 

In my book, he is one of a kind.

But I’m sure many of you have also found your one true love so you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Even so, you might also enjoy this holiday because it’s just one more reason to receive flowers and chocolates.  I absolutely love dark chocolate myself (if he’s reading this…he’ll get the hint).

Sorry, honey, just kidding. 

(I enjoy giving him a hard time.)

Don’t get me wrong.  I enjoy flowers and I do love dark chocolate but what I really enjoy about Valentine’s Day is not the flowers that will eventually wilt, or the chocolate that might add inches to my hips, but the mark of another year together as we celebrate another holiday, no matter which holiday it is.  I feel fortunate to have been able to celebrate however many holidays there are in a year with my soul mate for the past 25, almost 26, years. 

Wow.  Now it’s hitting me…we’ve been together a long time and we’re really not that old!

That reminds me of a funny introduction.  At my book signing last month, an older man and his wife entered the store who I had never met before but it turned out the man had worked with my husband about 23 years ago.  The man and my husband instantly recognized each other and when my husband introduced me, he also mentioned that we had been together for almost 26 years.  Know what the man’s response was? 

He asked, “When did you get together?  When you were five?”

I immediately liked him very much.

Even if I have a leave-it-or-take-it attitude about this holiday, I will celebrate Valentine’s Day because it is a day to celebrate and express the love you have for others.  As with any special holiday, it doesn’t hurt to make sure those you love know how special they are to you.  If for no other reason, making others feel special is a very good reason to celebrate any holiday.

Whether you enjoy Valentine’s Day, ignore it, dread it or just don’t care, I do wish you a wonderful day.