Would you be my Sweetheart?

Oh Valentine's Day. Aside from my mom, my first valentine sweetheart was Nicole Webber. Nicole and I first met in Ms. Becky's kindergarten class at Lucy Elementary. New to the whole "exchange of valentines" I was a little skeptical on how the whole thing worked. I remember giving her the most romantic He-Man Valentine in the box attached to a box of the hard candied hearts. I in return received a Rainbow Bright Valentine from her.

As we all got older, Valentine's Day became another class party that would break up our monotonous week of school. We would all decorate little brown paper lunch bags into mini mailboxes so that on that February 14th day we would have a class exchange of cards. I remember one year in 6th grade I liked this girl named Meredith, so the week of Valentines I wrote her a "Secret Admirer" love letter. I watched her read it and show all of her little girl friends. They all giggled as little girls do and even though she had no idea it was me who wrote the letter I felt 10ft tall and bullet proof, because I saw the excitement in her eyes. This story turned south immediately when Meredith decided to share the love letter with our teacher who immediately recognized the handwriting. I did not get my Valentine that year, but the pursuit was fun while it lasted.

As I got older, I became a little more knowledgeable of this obligated holiday where the man can either come out a hero or a joke. I have learned to shed the He-Man cards in exchange for roses and gifts. As a man I have learned there are certain rules you abide by on this "Day of Love.”

1) Do not under estimate the power of Valentines Day. Imagine your spouse/girlfriend
seeing all of her friends get candy, bears, flowers, whatever and you fail to
get her anything. Not good.
2) Make reservations! I forgot to make Valentine’s reservations once and we ended up
going to Chucky Cheese playing ski ball and watching the rat sing. Although it was
memorable, it definitely was not impressive.
3) If your spouse/girlfriend doesn't typically play with cute little stuffed
animals, she will not on this particular day either.
4) If all else fails..... volunteer to watch the "Notebook.”

Happy Valentine's Day!

-Steve Childress