14 February 2009
St. Valentine’s Day
Kyle and I have been ’round and ’round about this. I am a romantic, and prefer to focus on the positive energy and the theme of love and romance. It’s not about buying stuff, I tell him. Or, at least it doesn’t have to be. He argues that it’s completely commercial, and he hates the societal implication that he is “expected” to gift his wife with something material on this specific day . . . and sadly, that is indeed what the holiday has come to mean to many. All one need do, is turn on the television this week, to be bombarded by commercials for diamonds and other expensive baubles, and hear the reminder that buying something is the way to “show your love.” I shake my head and think “how sad,” but Kyle actively rebels and refuses to participate in any way.
I don’t mind, by the way . . . I know he loves me, and I don’t need a dozen roses on the fourteenth of February to prove it to me. And if I do go looking for signs of his love, the countless number of sweet and wonderful things he does for me all year long are more than enough of an outward indication of that love. And many of those things are even “material” things. In fact, we are both big believers in “seizing the day” and “capturing the moment”—and oftimes that means jumping on a gift idea when we see it. We don’t buy things for each other and set them aside for the next official holiday. We give them right then, for no good reason at all! (Remember the beautiful coat from TRF? Or the hat and scarf in Edinburgh? Or the pile of books I brought home from Dickens? . . . this list goes on and on!) But, boy-oh-boy, does my man rebel against doing any purchasing related to St. Valentine’s Day!
So, since he gets frustrated by the holiday, it’s perfect that I have developed the habit of spending the lion’s share of the day with my friends at The Rose and Thistle. After a full day of making people happy with beautiful flowers for their loved ones, we all gathered tonight for a delightful dinner at Ken and Denise’s favourite little Italian food restaurant. I ran home to get Kyle, so we’d only have one car, and off we went. Our in-transit conversation revolved around the history of St. Valentine’s Day, and explored (or attempted to explore) the differences in the way we look at this holiday.
I mean really. . . what harm is there in donning a red shirt, and enjoying the romantic history of this ancient ritualistic day? <sigh>
For a bit of a history lesson on St. Valentine’s Day, I’ve included these links, rather than rewrite it myself. No time for reinventing the wheel!
http://www.history.com/content/valentine/history-of-valentine-s-day
And this one’s cool: it’s a video!
http://link.history.com/services/link/bcpid6555686001/bclid1672160848/bctid1407959235
I shot this cute photo of Ken and Denise at dinner.
~MB
I understand Kyle’s response to V-Day. I love the pagentry. I love the flowers and all the red and pink. It’s the ONLY day that I can get away with wearing my favorite colors together. But even saying this, we usually do things very simple. This year it was watching romantic movies at home.
Hugs
Lori: That sounds wonderful! And that’s a perfect example of what I mean when I say that just because the diamond-sellers and Hallmark people want you to spend money, it doesn’t mean you have to spend money! It’s about the sentiment, not the fancy gifts!
~MB