Just Go With It

It's the day. The one some dread and others anticipate with bated breath. Will true love finally make an appearance? Will the boy/girl of one's dreams finally say those anticipated words of, "I love you," or at the very least, "I like you"? But in all honesty...does it really matter? 

I've always loved this day, because I love love. For me, Valentine's Day isn't about flowers and kisses and mushy, romantic love notes. I've never been dating someone on Valentine's day, so it's never been a romantic holiday for me. My mom would always make us cute cards and treats (like giant rice-krispie treats shaped like Hershey's Kisses and wrapped up in aluminum foil). This tradition of familial love has been continued to college, when she sends me a package full of loving goodness (though this year's has not yet arrived, due to slow post). Valentine's day is about love, we just misinterpret that to mean romantic love. It's about friendship, family, and a significant other, whichever you have. It shouldn't be a miserable, "I'm all alone, life sucks, I'm gonna go be depressed and emo in my aloneness." It should be a celebration of love, whatever type of love you have. 

So here's some fun Valentine's Day info: 

 The Legend of St. Valentine

The history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his jailor's daughter--who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

A Prisoner's Valentine

Charles, Duke of Orleans, who was taken prisoner at the battle of Agincourt in 1415, and detained in England twenty-five years, was the author of the earliest known written valentines. He left about sixty of them. They were written during his confinement in the Tower of London, and are still to be seen among the royal papers in the British Museum.

One of his valentines reads as follows:

Wilt thou be mine?
Dear Love, reply.
Sweetly consent or else deny.
Whisper softly,
none shall know,
Wilt thou be mine, Love?
Aye or no?

"Spite of Fortune,
we may be Happy by one word from thee.
Life flies swiftly
- ere it go
Wilt thou be mine, Love?
- aye or no?"