Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is coming, and  you know what that means!! That means it's time to celebrate love by expressing it! If you do not know how to express it, you have not been paying attention because the commercials, sales fliers and store displays have been telling us how for weeks now.

To be honest, they have been telling you gentlemen how to express it, because, admit it, you're the ones who need help here. This is how it's done this year, from what I've been able to gather....

First, and most importantly, you pull out your wallet.
Then you select from one or more of the following options:
1. Purchasing very over-priced crimson roses. The more you love her, the more you'll buy. She'll know if you bought enough, or not. (She'll also know if you picked them up at your local grocery store. Don't risk it.).
2. Ordering huge chocolate-dipped strawberries for over a dollar apiece.
3. Purchasing Chocolate. Good chocolate.
4. Purchasing large red teddy bears that will clash with her decor for the rest of the year.
5. Hiring four other guys to come sing love songs to your sweetheart.
6. Taking her out to a spiffy restaurant where hundreds of other couples are, and the wait staff is stretched way too thin.
7.  Purchasing gems. (Particularly diamonds handpicked by your broker to your individual specifications in Antwerp, Belgium.)
8. Carefully selecting the perfect wildly-expensive card. (You have to do this last one regardless what else you choose on this list.)

These are the options you've been given and they come with warnings: Her girlfriends will be asking her what she got for Valentine's Day, and if she doesn't have a good answer buddy, you and Fido are going to be sharing digs for a long, long time.
(This is just as well, actually; have you ever lived with a disappointed woman??? Let's just say they don't talk much, and the temperature around them is lower than other places.)
So now that we have that little understanding firmly in place, let's celebrate, shall we??

A few years ago, I read an article citing a study which brought to light this fact:  men, overwhelmingly, do not like Valentine's Day, and women love it.

I wondered, naturally, whether my beloved Chief felt that way. How could he, possibly???
But... he did. He didn't like Valentine's Day.
He never knew what to get me, or what I expected. He knew I'd like to go out to eat, probably, and he'd like that too, actually, but he hated going out to eat when every decent restaurant was packed to the gills.
I was always on a diet, so chocolates seemed counter-productive.
And Valentine roses were so expensive!

Men are such dreadfully reasonable creatures.
"Reasonable", and "Valentine's Day" have nothing to do with each other. At least not if you buy the line we're fed every year by those hoping to profit from all the guilt offerings.
That's what they are, you know.

Here's a much-needed Truth Injection: True love can be celebrated however you wish to celebrate it.  True love doesn't punish the other person for not fulfilling manufactured expectations. True love is fun for both parties.

After the cold revelation that The Chief is pretty much a regular man and doesn't like the inherent pressures of Valentine's Day, we came up with our own custom-fit  Valentine's Day Celebration plan. We go out to eat the weekend after Valentine's Day. Sometimes we do other things too, but they are entirely optional, and not expected. One year, he built me an adorable little gnome-house with a charming door in the bottom of a huge hollow oak.
Once, I had an artist sketch Mt Rushmore and put his face in that distinguished line-up,  I wrote up a little tribute to him and framed them together. That was lots of fun.

You and your true love are unique. Your relationship and love is unique. Don't let mass advertising dictate your expectations and your celebrating. Carve your own traditions and tailor your celebrations to fit the two of you in a way that doesn't stress either of you. And have a truly happy Valentine's Day!!