This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Clark chapter.
Valentine’s Day is definitely not the only day of the year for showing your affection for someone. However, it’s the perfect opportunity to let someone know you’ve been thinking about them, especially if you don’t get to see them everyday. Although Valentine’s Day is traditionally reserved hopeless romantics and young couples, why limit this day to only celebrating significant others? When I was younger, my dad used to always make a point to remind me that I would always be his Valentine, no matter how I old I got, so I like to give him a call on V-Day to let him know that I’m thinking of him. You can do the same, or make an even bigger gesture for anyone, including a sibling, cousin, or best friend!
- Send flowers: As obvious and cliché as this might seem, think about the last time that you bought someone flowers…probably not recently (but if you have, good for you!) Receiving a fresh bouquet can be even more special for someone whom you don’t see very often. If you go to school far from home, sending some flowers home to your parents will brighten their day more than you realize. I know it can be expensive, but definitely worth knowing how much it can mean to someone.
- Write a letter: Some things are much harder to say aloud than in writing. If you’ve been meaning to let someone know how much they mean to you, but haven’t found the right moment, or just don’t know if the words will come out right, write them a heartfelt letter. My grandmother lives in France and I don’t have an international phone plan, so we write to each other every couple of weeks, and I have grown to appreciate the beauty of letter writing. What makes it so special is that the person you write the letter to gets to keep your words, and carry them with them wherever they go.
- Bring home their favorite food: Nothing shows someone how much you know about them more than knowing their favorite foods. If your roommate loves Greek food and you’re looking for a way to show them that you appreciate them, then just simply buy them Greek food! A thoughtful gesture doesn’t have to be meticulously thought out, and can be as simple as picking up on someone’s preferences and surprising them when they were least expecting it.
- Do the chore that they hate: One thing I don’t miss about living at home is being scolded by my mom for leaving a microscopic crumb on the counter. I used to love keeping my room messy, and never cleaned up after myself which drove her crazy. Every now and then (usually around her birthday), I would scrub every pot, every pan and every surface in sight because I knew it made my mom happy. Although this in and of itself isn’t a super grand gesture, it can be a really nice addition to something else that you do.
- Surprise them: If a person you care about has been hinting about really wanting to go to a concert, or wants to spend a weekend away from campus in Boston, then surprise them with tickets or a night in an Airbnb.