Posted by: thepinetree on 02/12/2007 09:47 AM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/13/2009 11:31 PM
Expires: 01/01/2012 12:00 AM
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Thoughts on Rose Tinted Glasses, Secret Marriages and Valentines! By Karen Wildwood
In only a couple of days the day that honors all that is love will descend everywhere, or so it seems. For that brief moment in time, we will all find ourselves looking through rose tinted glasses at our loved ones. These glasses will bath them in a glorious red or pink light that will smooth out all the rough edges of your relationship causing you to once again feel that flush of first love. Okay, now back to reality.....
Valentines Day has arguably been around for centuries and has morphed quite significantly from its humble beginnings which included being naming after two Christian martyrs named Valentine, one of whom, legend has it, secretly arranged marriages for Roman soldiers against the wishes of Emperor Claudius II.
According to U.S. Census updated figures from 2005 there almost 90 million single people over the age of 18 out there who may or may not participate in the holiday based simply on the fact of whether or not they are involved with someone.
In the last week I heard more commercials that I care to count relating the fact that if you do not have a Valentine you only have X amount of days to find one, like all you have to do is go to the Valentine Tree and pick one out, and if you do, pick a good one because you want them to be around for a few years of Valentine’s not just one.
Then there are the commercials that tell you the only way for your Valentine to really understand that you love him or her, usually her, is give her a gift of jewelry, preferably diamonds because they are a girl’s best friend. Although one commercial had a different take on the whole best friend thing and related the fact to me that gold, not a diamond, is truly a girl’s best friend. I guess the DeBeers cartel was wrong all this time. And, here’s me believing them for all these countless years.
I really do believe diamonds are a girl’s best friend, the bigger the better, but what’s even more important is who they’re from. You could get the biggest, best diamond in the world from somebody, but, if you don’t care a wit for him, the diamond may as well be a clod of dirt. Admittedly a very pretty, sparkly, expensive clod, but just a clod for all it really means if there isn’t any real mutual feeling behind it.
I, as many of you have guessed, do not have a Valentine this year, at least not the kind of Valentine we all think of, as in that special somebody that creates butterflies in your stomach and makes you jump when the telephone rings because you really, really want it to be him. But, I don’t think valentines should be limited to only those who you have, let’s say, an adult relationship with. I think it should include everybody and anybody who you love.
Kids have the right idea about this inclusion thing. In many elementary school classes the kids give valentines to everyone else in class. Of course, some of those valentines mean more than others, but the point is that everyone gets one, and I think that adults should start to follow the same pattern.
We should give valentines to everyone we love whether it be our parents, siblings, friends or children, it’s a nice way to remember people and let them know that we care about them more than just a little.
If you think about valentines in this way, you may become less cynical about it being a Hallmark Holiday and less down if you aren’t in a significant other relationship. Instead when you count your Valentines you’re counting the relationships you have as blessings, which is really a good thing.
As for me, even though I don’t have a traditional Valentine, I do have a lot of people I love and one in particular asked me to be his Valentines in advance. Last week my son asked me to be his special someone on February 14, and to tell you the truth as a mother, no amount of wine and roses can match the sweetness of having your child ask you to be his Valentine.
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