HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

A day for smooching and bum-pinching and serving decorated heart shaped-cookies, if there ever was one.

Jamie and I have exchanged Valentines every year since 1973, so that's a lot of cards!

For some people it's no biggie, in the same way that celebrating birthdays is no biggie. We should celebrate love and caring each and every day. To thine own self be true.

It's a major part of the gift card industry to be sure, along with flowers and chocolates. And it does happen along during the winter when perhaps a little celebration is something to look forward to.

When our kids were little I loved helping them pick out packages or books of Valentines for their class. They were so cheerful and fun. Remember when they'd have matching envelopes that had to be folded and glued? They even contained Valentine "stamps." Great activities for kids, no cell phones or devices back then. You made your own fun. I sure wish we'd saved those, all you young Moms out there..............save some of this stuff, the future comes awfully fast, and the ability to look back on happy times is pretty awesome. And in 20 years, this will seem archaic. Back in the day a lot of teachers encouraged their class making home made Valentines, and those were the cutest.

Valentine's Day, it is believed, started in the 5th century. Saint Valentine was said to have been imprisoned for performing marriages for Roman soldiers, which was illegal at the time.

Fast forward, so to speak, around the 12th century, and it had morphed and evolved into a time for professing love.

It also was rooted in Pagan mythology. As was Hallowe'en and everything else fun, but I digress..............

And the very first Valentine card was thought to have been sent in the 15th century, so it's been around a long time.

Back in the golden olden days when I was all of 18 and working at Larter's Pharmacy, each of us girls had a section of the store to look after. Keep it clean above all, keep it stocked, and know your stuff. When shelves were getting low it was your job to get the message to Wendall, the stock manager. My section was the greeting cards!! I loved it. The company was "Rust Craft" which no longer exists, but it was pretty popular in the day. The cards have become a collectors item on Etsy and e-Bay.

They made beautiful cards of all descriptions and it was easy to get lost in the section, reading each card. Weddings, Sympathy, Birthdays, Baby, Bridal Showers, all the cards.

Who would have thought. If we could only go back.............

Cards like this one from Rust Craft celebrated every conceivable holiday. Now they call this a mid-century style card, and of course it is.

Love, though, it seems has become a hot commodity. Love in all it's forms! Check out the displays at any Hallmark store, and you'll find it quite refreshing. There are cards celebrating love between women, love between men. Cards to send to our trans population. Isn't there an ad on TV circulating right now that tells us Love is stronger than Hate? Then prove it! Love is Love!!

I'm looking forward to perhaps my favorite chocolates and a card from my sweetie, he hasn't let me down yet. And I fully realize that far, far in the future, if he goes to have breakfast with Jesus that I will miss these little things. But to him they aren't little things, they were always important to him.

And it doesn't have to be chocolates. In our current financial climate, a tin of good coffee might be a nice gesture. Or how about a jar of local Honey or Maple Syrup? Sweets for the sweetie! A tray of cookies, a fruit basket, a box of herbal tea, with a nice pottery mug to go with it.............I could go on all night. Anything, given with the right attitude, can make someone's day. Practical gifts trump sometimes.

I get off track easily, I'm worse than a chipmunk.

What are your plans for Saturday?

Have a Happy Valentine's Day, I love you all!