Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite holidays. I love baking pink cookies. I love that it’s fashionably acceptable for me wearing my gaudy heart earrings. As a kid, I loved clumsily hand-producing the crooked construction paper cutouts that proclaimed I loved each and every one of my classmates, ready for delivery into their own tenderly made mail-boxes. It’s hard for me to contain my enthusiasm because I feel the same way as I did when I was six. I just love Valentine’s Day.
I know that this excitement is hard for some people to understand, because these days I’m supposed to hate Valentine’s Day. The unwritten expectation of our generation is that Valentine’s Day is a holiday for couples, meaning that those of us currently unattached from romantic love should spend all day being bitter about how alone we are. I knew a girl in high school who every year would invite people to her February 14th Single Awareness Party, where no couples were allowed and everyone just complained about how lonely they were. I never went. Not because I wasn’t single, but because I truly believe that’s not what Valentine’s Day needs to be about.
When I was younger, my mom made sure every year that my Valentine’s Day extra special. I would come home from school on Valentine’s Day to a plate of warm Pillsbury heart cookies my sisters and I to devour (because on top on my candy-laden day in class, more sugar was exactly what I needed), while I crowed about how wonderful my Valentine’s with my class was. I doubt I ever mentioned how much I enjoyed the special Valentine’s lunch she had packed, or the handwritten note she had slipped in, but she knew it had made my day that much better. For Valentine’s Day ‘date night’ she would prepare mac and cheese for my sisters and I (our favourite) despite the fact that it was terribly unhealthy, because she knew we loved it. At my house growing up, Valentine’s Day wasn’t for my parents as a romantically involved couple to celebrate that love – it was for everyone in my family unit to let everyone know much we meant to each other. It honestly didn’t occur to me that Valentine’s Day was a special couples’ holiday for a very long time. I always assumed it was for everyone and I really liked that.
So, that’s still how I celebrate Valentine’s Day. I bake a ton of cookies and give them to everybody. I call my grandparents and tell them I love them. I walk around on Valentine’s Day decked out in my favourite red, white and pink feeling good because I’m exuding so much love for everyone it’s impossible to not feel wonderful. On Valentine’s Day I celebrate friendship, platonic love, familial love, respect for my co-workers and classmates along with romantic love, because I think all love is important and deserves to be acknowledged. Valentine’s Day is the perfect day for that.
So for those of you who feel grumpy on Valentine’s Day because you don’t have a special someone to spend it with – you can be upset all day if you want, go home and watch a sad movie, cry and moan about how you’re single on Valentine’s Day again. But I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to tell everyone I see that day that I love and appreciate them. All love is important. It deserves to be celebrated. Why would you be sad when you could be happy instead?
Happy Valentine’s Day, reader. I love and appreciate you.