I've always liked the story behind Valentine's Day: a priest who defied the law to marry couples in love. I loved Valentine's Day in grammar school--making construction paper mailboxes decorated with hearts and giving and receiving little Valentines. If I recall correctly, we had to give Valentines to everyone in the class. We didn't have problems like Ralph Wiggum in the "I Love Lisa" Simpsons episode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Love_Lisa.
Checking out wikipedia, I read that the story of Valentine's Day is bogus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day. American Greetings even embellished the story to add the card giving aspect of the holiday.
Now I consider Valentine's Day as more of a marketing gimmick than anything else. Prices of chocolate, flowers and restaurant meals spike. Couples feel pressured to buy fabulous gifts or make elaborate plans. Singletons are treated or feel like freaks because they don't have significant others to share the day with.
So why do I like this holiday? For one thing, I'm lucky enough to be happily married. We ignore some of the bullshit aspects of the holiday and choose to celebrate the parts we like. This year we went out for lunch, had filet mignon for dinner, exchanged cards and watched the latest episode if AbFab. It worked for us.
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