To keep it one hundred, the number one thing on my wish list for years has been a boyfriend.
Every time I blow out my birthday candles, make my New Year’s resolutions, or occasionally in my prayers, I circle back to the same wish: sweet, genuine teenage love. The hopeless romantic in me wants the kind straight out of a rom-com. The kind that everyone else seems to have but me. If you’ve read some of my past articles, you already know this isn’t new.
Because of that, Valentine’s Day has never really been my favorite. A holiday dedicated to celebrating the one thing I want most but don’t have? Cute.
For years, Feb. 14 has left a bitter taste in my mouth. All it was to me was a reminder of what was missing.
But surprisingly, this year feels different.
I’m not bitter. Instead, I feel…excited? Looking back, I’m a little embarrassed that it took me this long to see the beauty of it all. Flowers and hearts are everywhere; there seems to be a piece of chocolate for you to eat, no matter where you go, and it’s the only holiday where pink is everywhere. And I love pink.
But beyond the superficial things, I realized something else this year: I have so much love in my life.
It may not be romantic love, but it’s genuine. It’s the kind of love that shows up in texting each other late at night to DoorDash Taco Bell, studying together for exams, random “this reminded me of you” texts, and friends who seem to know where your head is at any given time.
A noticeable shift happened at an Art Club event my friends and I went to this week. They had supplies laid out for us to make Valentine’s cards. I sat thinking of a different craft I could do because I didn’t have a partner in my life to make one for.
But then my friend Julia said something so simple: “Make one for a friend.”
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
I had been so convinced that Valentine’s Day was reserved for romantic love that I forgot love exists in a million other ways. So, I made a card for a friend. And Julia made one for me. Inside, she listed the things she loved about me (and I may or may not have cried reading it).
To me, that card was more meaningful than any bouquet of flowers a boy I barely know could’ve gotten me.
Changing my perspective completely changed February in a way I never thought would happen unless I had romantic love in my life. Valentine’s Day isn’t about the love you don’t have; it’s about celebrating the love you do.
So this year, if you don’t have a Valentine, ask your friend. Ask your mom. Ask your roommate. Compliment the girl you pass on the way to class. Hold the door open for the person behind you. Celebrate love being anywhere you look for it.
And admittedly, if a boy randomly decided to ask me last-minute to be his Valentine, I probably wouldn’t say no. Can you blame me? It’s been on my wish-list forever.
The difference now, though, is that I don’t need that Valentine to feel loved.