Looking Back…It’s All about Love

Supposedly, St. Valentine’s Day had its beginnings in early Rome, with both pagan and Christian roots. Stories vary as recorded history was not as detailed with what we are used to today with all our modern technology - and even that gets questioned.

While some of the stories were too bloody and/or gruesome to include here, two of the Valentine stories found were both “family-friendly.  The first story is that at the beginning of February, all the single young ladies would place their names in a vessel. In mid-February, the young men would gather together at a specified location and one-by-one pick a name out of the vessel. The male and female were expected to remain a “couple” until the following year. If the joining turned into a romance, the couple got married the following spring. If not, the participants were free and able to continue looking for a suitable partner elsewhere.

The other tale mentions a prisoner and his jailer. A male was arrested and placed in jail, usually located at the jailer’s home. When the jailer was too busy or chose not to bring a meal to the prisoner, the criminal either did not eat or a member of the jailer’s family would bring food to the jailed man. Now, this becomes a “love story” as the jailer’s daughter and the criminal fell in love (Was it really love or just a flirtatious offering of food to a starving male prisoner?) The man, who was executed on February 14^th, wrote his last words in a letter to his “Beloved”. On that letter, he signed it, “From your Valentine”.  One must note here that Valentine was a very popular name in the 4^th century.

Over the years the tradition of sending cards has continued. Valentine’s Day has blossomed into a commercial extravaganza.  Just about all retailers offer something related to the holiday. It is probably one of the largest “sale” days of the entire year that is not a federal holiday. Candy, flowers, clothing, toys, games, books, jewelry, food/restaurants, and so much more are offered to consumers.

As a child, how many of us had three school days of parties? In October, we had a Halloween party. We were able to bring our costumes to school and change into them after lunch. December brought the Christmas party. THEN, there was the Valentine’s Day Party. I feel this was the ultimate of events.

It took the first two weeks of February to get ready for this gala! On the home front, it meant I needed to go to the store, Woolworth’s 5&10 in Taunton, to pick out a box of kids’ cards and then carefully print my name on each one and address the envelopes. Deciding what I would wear to school on Valentine’s Day usually was easy, my red Christmas dress! Also, I had to find out what Mom was baking – cupcakes or cookies and report back to the teacher. During Art class, we would decorate our “shoe box” mailboxes for all our expected Valentine Day cards from our teacher and classmates. Once those were done, we made Valentine cards for our parents, which went home a few days before the holiday…after all we had to wait for the giant glops of white paste to dry completely (Remember how good it smelt (and tasted)?

Then, the actual party. Those moms that worked full-time sent in bottles of soda or chocolate hearts for the students…all greatly appreciated by us kids. Some room mothers would come in to help the classroom teacher prepare for the festivities while the class was outdoors at noon recess. After we put our coats, hats and mittens in the cloak room, it was party time until 2:30pm. Then, we had to get ready for the 3pm announcements and dismissal over the intercom.

Once home, we got to open our “mailbox”. Some of the greetings were:

1. A drawing of a kitten with the included verse “Hello! Let’s Be Valentines!”
2. A dachshund “I’m longing to be your Valentine.”
3. A spaceman “Be My Valentine”
4. A chipmunk and acorn “May be a-corny idea, but I need you for my Valentine!”

Nowadays, few if any, school parties are held for a variety of positive reasons. That does not change the fact that most school-aged children still LOVE the month of February. Just think for a moment: at most, there are only 29 days to the month. This means, counting weekends and the vacation week, a student basically attends school for half the month, not counting a couple of snow days, delayed starts and/or early dismissals thrown in.

Whether it be flowers and chocolates, sunshine or snow, hugs and kisses, or hot chocolate and a good book, may your Valentine’s Day be as sweet as you!