Valentimes

No, it's not a typo. These are indeed the times of Valen. Who's Valen? Unimportant! In that respect, he shares a lot with St. Valentine. Not many know who he really was, what he did, or what that has to do with love, but boy do we celebrate it.

Of course, not everyone celebrates Valentine's Day. It's a holiday that puts a bright shining spotlight on your relationship. If you're not in one, then the spotlight hits the bare space where your relationship is not. Oddly enough, there are folks who don't want to be reminded that they don't have someone in their life to cuddle with them and tell them they smell funny. Ignorance is bliss, as it were. I was never one of those folks.

Even after my girlfriend broke up with me and married another man, I still celebrated V-Day and gave out mini Kit-Kat bars to friends. Even when I spent the evening watching a friend's kids so he could have a night with his wife, I didn't be-moan the situation. You see, when God was handing out hearts, he gave me a jumbo popcorn bucket of Hope instead. Then he made me obstinate and pig-headed. This allowed me to always enjoy the idea of love, even if I wasn't in love.

My first Valentine's Day with Becky was only the second time in my life I'd been able to celebrate it with someone. This year, marks our third together. While we're not made of money, we do know how to show ourselves a good time, so Becky's whipped up a grand cake for the occasion. We'll pop a bottle of cab-sav with our steaks and deftly avoid the mad rush that always descends upon restaurants on this day.

So, in a nutshell, your kernels of wisdom are: love means more than money, and don't glare at lovers just because you're not getting any.