Sweet on Valentine's Day

by Eva Pasco, author of "Underlying Notes"

According to Hallmark research, 188 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second-most popular greeting card giving occasion--this total excludes packaged kids valentines for classroom exchanges. Names of romantic places include but are not limited to: Valentine, NE; Valentine, TX; Loveland, CO; Love Valley, NC; Loving, NM; Romeo, MI; Heart Butte, MT.  Chocolate box assortments, roses, and diamonds are popular items to express romantic affection on this special calendar day of February 14th.   

In the 1960s when Baby Boomers were coming of age, and many aspired to the notion that marriage could be put off in order to enjoy the single life, it was a "swinger's" paradise, attested by singles apartment complexes springing up, starting in  California.  Singles clubs were places for guys and gals to meet. Yet, by and large, the moon was for lovers rather than NASA's launching pad for celestial destinations. There were still enough romantic love songs to go around in the Sixties: Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers, Love is Blue (L'Amour Est Bleu) - Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, Our Day Will Come - Ruby and The Romantics, Dedicated to the One I Love - The Mamas and the Papas, Since I Fell for You - Lenny Welch,  Can't Take My Eyes Off of You - Frankie Valli, A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like) - Aretha Franklin; Cherish – Assocation, Last Kiss - J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, Sealed with a Kiss - Brian Hyland; Love (Can Make You Happy) – Mercy, My Cherie Amour - Stevie Wonder… 

Most of us Boomers remember our Valentine card exchange in elementary school. The week of Valentine's Day we'd drop our sweet, innocent, miniature one-sided cards through the opening of a box decorated with red tin foil and lace hearts. On that special day of celebration our desks became a table top for fruit punch and pink-iced cupcakes sprinkled with tiny red hearts. We enthusiastically shared the task of passing out cards to our classmates, and then unceremoniously tore the envelopes open to retrieve our cards.  The occasion evolved into a card counting fest in the name of popularity pride.  There was enough teasing and insinuations to go around as we revealed our sources.  I imagine there were a few crestfallen amongst us who didn't receive a card from someone secretly admired.  I do recall looking my cards over more carefully when I got home from school, the better to appreciate the jokes and puns. 

Sweet on Valentine's Day, I cherish the memories of my dad gifting his girls with two shiny heart-shaped Schraft boxes of chocolates, while my mother received a big box.  When my sister and I finished our chocolates, we foraged in hers, leaving the crumpled wrappers behind.  As we round the bend in life, there comes a turn when the simple pleasures of life become more complex.  Somewhere in time, we find ourselves the recipient of red roses and a diamond-- symbols to commemorate love, though not without sacrifice or challenges. Still, Valentine's Day affords each of us a special interlude to celebrate love through sweet romantic gestures. 

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