Thinking about. . .Valentine’s Day

I have a mug that I love. Which is strange, because I am a tea-cup person and NOT fond of mugs. They are too thick and the wrong shape and I really, really need to have a saucer, because I dribble. But anyways, I have a mug that I love. It is a Winnie-the-Pooh Valentine’s mug that says, "Nobody can be uncheered with a Valentine," a sentiment which I whole-heartedly share. My mother, who was, along with being the Birthday Queen and the Queen of Christmas, also the Queen of Hearts as far as Valentine’s day was concerned, created a special place in my soul for February 14th. (see a trend here? I DO come by it honestly!) When I was a sophomore in college, I hit a rocky patch with my boyfriend (he was SO cute! and so fun! and we were just having a really rough year. But it’s all good. We got married a year and a half later.) But of course, the rocky patch hit right around Valentine’s Day, and this was Very Sad. If Mom was the Queen of Hearts, that made me the Princess, and a Valentine with no Valentine is hardly worth sniffing at. So here is the story:  The Princess was dejected and feeling rather snarky about the whole idea of Valentine’s Day. So her parents, who really were the coolest, most fun, and BEST Mom and Dad around, gave her a very special Valentine. Her father, the King of Hearts, sent her a dozen roses, not all red, and not all buds, because what’s the fun in that? Half-blown, fragrant, colorful, in a glass vase delivered right to her dorm room. And her mother, the Queen, sent her a package with some stuff that I’m sure was great but don’t remember, and the Pooh mug. Valentine’s Day was saved! And every year after that, the Princess uses her Pooh mug with great happiness, crying into it sometimes, because she misses the Queen so much. The King, too, but that’s another story. The Prince, whom the Princess married despite the rough patch, has been Very Good at Valentine’s Day ever since. But those roses and that mug, delivered with such lovingly perfect timing, will always be the Princess’s favorite Valentine.

And why do I tell the story two weeks before Valentine’s Day? Because I’ve been decorating and planning and making things for Valentine’s Day since the day after Christmas, and it’s time for everyone to Get Excited! Men, this is your two-week warning! Plan something NOW. Chocolate is always a winner. Gift cards to bookstores: also good. A hand-written card and dinner? VERY good.

And to you who have no significant other: send a Valentine to your mom. Your grandmother. Your best friend. Anyone you love.

Remember–Nobody can be uncheered with a Valentine.

It’s true.