Don't Give Up on Valentine's Day

There are four days each year where I can’t control my urge to publicly proclaim my love for my wife, much to her consternation. On her birthday, on our wedding anniversary, on the anniversary of our first date and today, on Valentine’s Day.

How many ways can I say that I love this woman with all my heart, all my being? To awake each day with her, to know that I have found my missing piece, that fills me with comfort and joy (comfort and joy…).

I like to think of her as my better 83 percent but I think that everyone knows that the true number is much higher.

As much as I love my birthday (which is today; it’s not too late to send a card or buy a present, I’m registered at independent book stores across the country), I really try to think of it as a day to celebrate my love for her. I try to make every day like that but who doesn't fall short from time to time?

I admit that I can be very corny about St. Valentine's Day. It's not such a terrible thing. the world could probably be use more people being corny about love.

I know that many people see it as a Hallmark holiday and they’re not necessarily wrong. But it wouldn’t be great if it was actually a day to celebrate the love that you have in your life? Whether it be for a partner, friend, a pet, a hobby, a relative, or maybe just a really good egg sandwich. Maybe it’s the love you feel just looking at a picture of two dogs cuddled up and napping.

The funny thing about St. Valentine is that there was not one St. Valentine. There are about a dozen of them. At least two of them were beheaded. I wonder if that's where the expression about losing your head for someone comes from?

Speaking of expressions, can we talk about head over heels in love? It's just stupid. Where's your head? Where are your heels? Your head is pretty much always above your heels. Unless, of course, you are one of those Saint Valentines who was beheaded. It might be different then.

Talk to me about being heels over head in love. Now, that's a love!

For the record, I am heels over head in love with Amy.

The first uses of the phrase date back to the 1300s or so and was originally written as heels over head.  It wasn’t until the 1700s that someone flipped it and by the next century, the head over heels version stuck.

It's remained that way because, I guess, love makes people kind of dumb (generally, in a good way) and no one has given the phrase much thought.They just repeat it the way they heard it.

Speaking of the 1300s, it wasn't until then that people wrote of the day in relation to romance.

It started with Chaucer who started the whole thing.

In 1375 or so, he wrote "The Parliament of Foules." Some say that he wrote it for King Richard II as he prepared to marry Anne of Bohemia. He wrote of St. Valentyne's day as the day that foules (fowls, birds) came together to find their mate.

That's the first known linking of the two. About 100 years later the first known letter was written in which someone referred to someone as their “Valentine."

Love is actually only one of several things that the various Saint Valentines keep an eye on; there's also beekeepers and people with epilepsy, among others.

Anyway, what was I saying?

There s clearly a lot of awful stuff around. At the same time, there's a lot of love. People just need to embrace it.

Find the person who makes your heels rise above your head and tell that person of your love.