Valentine's

THE LULU CHRONICLES

LuLu-ism # 46: Love makes the world go around. So does food poisoning. So, be very careful what your true love gives you to eat.

It is an old belief that birds choose their mates on February 14. One old English custom had a single girl write the names of the boys she was interested in on small bits of paper and then roll them up in separate pieces of clay. She then dropped the clay into water. The first scrap of paper to rise to the top was supposed to contain the name of her true valentine. In old Sicily, unmarried women would get up before sunrise on Valentine’s Day to stand by their windows watching for a man to pass by. Each girl believed that the first man she saw or someone who looked a lot like him would become her bridegroom within the year.

Today the romance tradition continues. Hallmark makes a fortune on it, so do chocolate factories.

And then there’s my husband. I can count on one hand how many cards and chocolate hearts I’ve received on this worldwide day of romance in the last forty years. Valentine’s Day is a big rub for him. His philosophy— “Ain’t no one gonna tell me when to love my woman” (grunt-grunt). So, I never know if the day is going to pass us by or if I’m going to find a Snicker’s bar under my pillow.

Actually, I do have a whole drawer full of poems he wrote himself. Only one was given on Valentine’s Day. The very first marriage retreat we attended was his idea, and we’ve attended one almost every year since. We have had forty wedding anniversaries that have been celebrated with flourish, mostly through his planning and forethought. My every birthday has his loving stamp on it. (After all, the hubs is the one who bought me LuLu for my last birthday). So, I’m not complaining.

But if you’re a big fan of Valentine’s Day, I wish you a happy one. As far as I’m concerned though, each day and every day you wake up loved is Valentine’s Day.