Valentine's Day Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Mothering in the Middle

The Heart’s Memory Lives On

by Lori Pelikan Strobel

On my kitchen counter there sits a small basket. In the basket, there is a small, folded-up piece of notebook paper. I have kept this note for 36 years. It is yellowed and slightly torn at the corners, but I haven’t been able to throw it out. It has a very special Valentine’s Day message to me.

I remember the grade school days of giving Valentine’s Day cards to all of my classmates. My mother would drive me to the store and I would painstakingly pick out the perfect box of Valentine’s Day cards for my friends. After handing them out in class, I can clearly see myself breathlessly waiting to open the cards from my friends, especially the boys. Somehow my girlfriends and I could always figure out which boy liked us. […]

Skipping Valentine’s Day Forever (A Love Story)

by Nicholas D'Ambra

When I was little, my Dad would come home every Valentine’s Day with his arms over flowing with sweets and treats from our local Douglas Drug store. I can imagine him standing in a long line with other men who were last minute shopping.

My Dad wasn’t a last minute shopper, this was just how he did it, every single year. The gifts he carried weren’t just for my Mom, but for me and my sister as well. There were always chocolates for us and sometimes a toy or stuffed animal. My mom annually received a large heart-shaped box of chocolates and roses.

Years later, I carried on with the tradition. I bought similar gifts for that special person I was dating. I also purchased various chocolates and heart shaped items for my single friends so they wouldn’t feel left out. Then, when I met my husband-to-be, it all changed. Valentine’s Day was no longer that special day to espouse love and present gifts. It was just another day, no special than any other. It saddened me to think it was over. […]

Cupid’s Dilemma (A Cynical Look at Valentine’s Day, With Some Statistics, Too)

by Nancy LaMar-Rodgers

Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre

Ok so it’s not that dramatic but let’s face it, Valentine’s Day is a pressure cooker. My single friends loathe it because it reminds them they are single. My newly divorced friends hate it because it makes them feel like failures and, quite frankly, my few happily married friends also detest it, because of the pressure of reminding each other “how much you really mean to me.”

Let’s face it, if you are still married after 20 years in this day and age, it’s a miracle unto itself and for me, I love nothing better than my husband doing the laundry and dishes, and for him I am sure my showing of love on that day comes in the form of less flannel and more stockings and heels. […]

Valentines Schmalentines
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Valentines Schmalentines

Commentary, Daily Living, Midlife Foibles!, Motherhood, Mothers Over 40

Valentines Schmalentines

by Jo-Ann Rogan

Valentine’s Day is a waste of time and I tend not to celebrate it in any meaningful way. I don’t require my husband to bring me gifts or take me out for dinner. Valentine’s Day is about a month and a half from Christmas and exactly a month before our wedding anniversary. We can celebrate love any other time of the year and we won’t have to fight a crowd. We might say “Happy Valentine’s Day” and hug, but the celebration ends there. Usually, for my kids, I plan an experience in the time around Valentine’s Day, like a trip to the indoor water park or another fun event.

I don’t need a holiday for my husband to show me he loves me. He does that when he makes me a cocktail with fresh squeezed juice on Saturday nights after I have served drinks to half of the city for two nights in a row. I feel the love when we stand in the kitchen supposedly cooking but instead we are watching a TV show on the kitchen computer, and he starts to rub my back. […]

The Power of One: Honoring Yourself

by Cyma Shapiro

Last year, in my Huffington Post Valentine’s Day essay, “The Power of One Helps Make a Whole,” I wrote about how important Valentine’s Day is and how I start thinking about the upcoming holiday soon after the last holiday ends! I explained how I spend several months formulating who I’ll send cards to and who I’ll call/see/meet simply to say “I love you” and express my thanks and gratitude for being in my life. […]

A Valentine For Heidi

by Marc Parsont

Unlike most sane men, I don’t fear and dread Valentine’s Day. My wife seems to be as much annoyed by the contrivance as I am.

Of course that doesn’t let me off from getting her a card. Her non-observance goes only so far. The card alone, is enough to bring back the cold sweats and reminders of my youth. Who gets a V-card? Who doesn’t get a V-card? […]

Love Is Never Easy

by Maggie Lamond Simone

Courtesy of flashfree.com

Love is never easy. Anybody can tell you that, from the person wondering if he’ll ever find his soul mate, to the long-married couples still facing the daily challenges endemic to living with someone who may or may not share their love of clutter.

Technology has made it much easier in many cases, increasing the opportunities for communication; gone are the days of kissing your spouse goodbye before heading off on a business trip and not speaking for possibly days at a time.

No, today’s world has made it extraordinarily easy to say what we want to say, to whom we want to say it, right now. […]

All You Need is Love!

by Wendy Sue Noah

Dear Reader: This begins the countdown to my most favorite holiday in the world – Valentine’s Day!

Here is the first of seven days of essays designed for the day:

The media permeates us with images of romantic couples, so very happy, with absolutely no problems whatsoever. And, they are going to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a cold refreshing Heineken, because Heineken has linked themselves with love in the air.

As I reach for my cold Heineken, which happens to be one of my favorite beers, I look at my tribe of five with a depth of love I’ve never known before. It’s called Unconditional Love. […]

Love That Rings True

by Jenilyn Gilbert

I met my husband swing dancing in Grant Park in downtown Chicago when I was 38 years old. We dated for a couple of years and I was one month into my fortieth year when I walked down the aisle.

I recall the time before I met him; all the first dates, sadness over not having a life partner and feeling so left out and so behind my peers. I attended so many wedding showers and weddings that I never thought my turn would come. When I attended a friend’s second wedding, I thought ‘that’s it, this will never be me, now they’re starting to run two circles around me. I will never get married.’ Now that I’m two years into my marriage I just want to be pregnant. […]

Love Is More Than A Four-Letter Word

by Rosemary Lichtman Ph.D. and Phyllis Goldberg Ph.D.

Long before it was a song, the saying was a part of our conversation: Love makes the world go ’round.

With all this whirling, love can make you feel off balance and dizzy. Sometimes it’s tricky to keep your personal world turning without having it spin totally out of control. Although our focus is most often on romantic love, there are many different kinds of love that help keep us grounded. […]