Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! Do you have special Valentine memories?
I hope February 14, 2020 will be “Happy” for you indeed. Jeff and I are double-dating on V-day this year. More on that, after the fact.
For some reason, I always manage to think about people who don’t have a “Valentine” to be with on 2/14. Forced holidays such as V-day can be a bummer for some.
Valentine’s Day was my favorite holiday to celebrate when I was in grade school. Do you remember your mom buying a flimsy, cardboard box of valentines so you could give every student in your class a greeting on “party” day? The cards were so darn cute back then. And everyone received one.
Some kids randomly stuck nameless envelopes in boxes. That wasn’t my cup of tea, so to speak. I always addressed mine carefully choosing precisely who got which card. How embarrassing it would have been if Jimmy received a big, red heart reading: “Be My Valentine”…instead of Mark! (I can feel my face turning bright red right now!)
I also remember the excitement and suspense of opening a card from my crush-of-the-day. Annoying butterflies swirling as he walked by and dropped the tiny envelope in my box, hoping [praying] he bothered to print my name on the outside. Further hoping that the card had a kitty, princess, pony, flowers or other pink brickerbrack on it.
And then, of course, there was adapting to various disappointments. For instance, if I received an unaddressed envelope containing an astronaut telling me that I was “A-OK,” that would not exactly make my day.
So…to save myself from broken-heartedness, and as a last resort, I’d scrutinize the pencil-printed signatures on the back of the sensitive card in question. My 8-year-old brain would try valiantly to decode for instance: an over-sized M, hard-to decipher A, an unusually small R, and even smaller K. Maybe, just maybe, Mark was trying to tell me something with his cryptic penmanship?
Ahh, life goes on and now I have my favorite and forever Valentine, Jeff, to celebrate with. But, sadness for others still visits. I received little, black, heart bracelets at a Church of the Apostles concert a few weeks ago (below).
If you’re Valentine-less, I will send you one (triangleparkatl@gmail.com). The message is simple: you’re never alone, Jesus is always with you and loves you more than any human has the ability to.
Thank you for reading!
Love, Shelley
My next Flash Fiction story is in the works. Here’s a sneak peek: “GoAhead”