Everyday is Valentine’s Day in My World~

Everyday is Valentine’s Day in My World~

While I am aware the origins of celebrating love in February and the feast of St. Valentine has been commemorated since the Middle Ages, the modern incarnation of the day is a debacle of colossal proportions meant to encourage flagrant spending to enrich purveyors of flowers, jewelry and candy; to allow fine dining establishments to offer only special prix fixe dinners of inferior quality food at inflated prices; and to foster a need for insecure persons to demand overt displays of affection from a loved one. It is all about show.

In my humble opinion, when one is involved in a loving relationship in which both partners engage on a daily basis the ritual of Valentine’s Day is superfluous at a minimum. My husband and I do not exchange cards or gifts nor do we send overpriced floral displays to offices or plan to dine at restaurants offering only “special Valentine’s Day” dinners. In fact, a few years ago we planned a spa weekend and were horrified to discover the regular menu was not available at the dining establishment we patronized because it was Valentine’s Day.

Instead of feeding the monster that is the Valentine’s Day of today’s world, we celebrate every day and express our gratitude for being blessed with a dynamic relationship. We don’t need a day – other than a special anniversary to recall the day we met or the date we married. It is not about gifts or flowers or cards or a “Hallmark” moment. Instead it is treasuring the everyday experiences, acknowledging our good fortune in finding love and companionship at midlife, appreciating one another for who we are, sharing a bottle of wine on the porch, a dinner we’ve prepared together, laughing because we don’t like pizza from the same parlor, accepting our differences and working together to build a life of harmony, peace and serenity based on mutual respect, love, kindness, humor, love of our families and critters, and consideration.