For every two or three friends I see on social media wishing others a Happy Valentine’s Day or posting a couples pic, there is another posting about gross candy in heart shaped boxes and $70 roses. I tend to think of Valentine’s Day in the same way as St. Patrick’s Day and Halloween. In our culture those days have a lot of activities for children but adults need to grow out of them. If you live in New York and have Irish heritage I’m not asking you to give that up but most of us are not Irish, not Catholic, and only talk about shamrocks and leprechauns one day each year. It makes something of a spectacle of people’s actual heritage. Adult Halloween parties send up red flags for me. Even Thanksgiving is a day for adults give thanks and spend time with family around a feast but it’s the kids that are making paper hats with buckles and learning about Pilgrims and Puritans.
Valentine’s Day is not one of those things I can simply give up in adulthood. It’s true that ideas about romantic love change as adults learn to survive in the real world. My wife and I met on February 14th, 1997, and have just celebrated our 25th Valentine’s Day. It’s a part of our personal history, our family story, and it always will be. So as some rant about chubby babies coming at them with weapons not inspiring romantic thoughts, all I can do is smile and nod sympathetically. Valentine’s Day has been very good to me.
Jimmy Humphrey’s podcast this week is dedicated to Valentine’s Day and he asks the question Is it Time to Kill Cupid? Full Disclosure, I’m going to link to Jimmy’s Table but he also name drops Clark Bunch in this episode. Click here for Jimmy’s Table Podcast #139.
BTW, if you woke up on the couch this morning and can’t figure out why your wife went to bed angry last night, you missed Valentine’s Day knucklehead. It was the Monday after the Super Bowl, which should be a national holiday in it’s own right.
True story: I have a friend whose spouse spent last night on the sofa!
I have a friend in real life that included “gross candy in heart shaped boxes” as part of a much longer rant. There were 12 or 15 things in that list but my only reply was “gross candy?” I give but never receive those heart shaped boxes but do not think the Valentine’s chocolates are gross. My wife would rather have Ferrero Rocher and imho the chocolates are better.