Valentine Meme

Valentine’s Day was one of my favorite holidays when I was a kid. From the chalky little pastel hearts saying “Be Mine,” as well as the heart-shaped boxes of chocolate my grandmother would send us to the shoeboxes we transformed into mailboxes to receive all our Valentines from classmates to picking out the cutest Valentine to give to my best friend to the heart-decorated cupcakes and lollipops we’d get at the party (back in the days when schools weren’t blamed for children’s bad eating habits, such fare was still allowed to be served in the classroom, and the childhood obesity rate in this country was probably somewhere around half what it is today), I was in seventh heaven. In fact, as far as I was concerned, February, the month so loathed by so many, despite its short duration, was my favorite. First we had my mother’s birthday, then Valentine’s Day, and then my birthday.

The year we were living in England when Valentine’s Day rolled around, I discovered the wonderful British tradition of not signing Valentines (that was going on thirty years ago, and I hope this is a tradition to which the Brits still cling, having not yet fallen under the crushing spell of Americanization). What fun to receive Valentines, trying to guess who they were from. I attended an all-girl school, so there wasn’t much likelihood of getting a good one from any boys (I was in love with all the boys in our village. How could any American girl not be? Alas, I didn’t receive any from them, everyone being way too shy and awkward to do such things), but it didn’t matter. My girlfriends and I devised clever ways to surprise each other with Valentines without letting us see how we did it. You’d open your geography book, and inside would be a Valentine; you’d be searching for your pen in your schoolbag, and there you’d find a Valentine; all Valentines being signed with nothing more than a mysterious “?”

I still love the notion of Valentines being unidentified, which is why I’ve devised my Valentine’s meme with this in mind. Valentines, as we all know, do not necessarily have to be lovers or spouses. I’ve always been my father’s Valentine, for instance, and he still writes in letters to me “Won’t you be my Valentine?” When I was young and had more time and energy, I used to send Valentines pretty-much the same way I sent Christmas cards to family members and friends.

So, I’m tagging everyone who’s reading this, and here’s what you’re to do. Choose an unidentified Valentine whom you’d like to laud, and answer these questions.


What’s the sweetest thing your Valentine ever did for you?
Made (or I should say, tried to make) a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for my birthday. I quickly learned that baking was not his forte, and any birthday cakes I have these days come from the bakery.


What’s the sweetest thing your Valentine does/did for you on a regular basis?
He once went with me to a doctor’s appointment in which I was told it was very important for me to be taking a multivitamin every day. He lays out my vitamins for me to remind me take them (otherwise, I’d never remember).

What’s the sweetest gift your Valentine has ever given you?
The first season of Once and Again on DVD, a television show he never liked much but knows I loved.

What’s the sweetest occasion you and your Valentine ever shared?
So, so many, but one that really sticks out in my mind was our first New Year’s together when we eschewed the madness of Times Square and very civilly rung in the new year from the top of the Empire State Building. I knew I wanted to marry him then.

What’s the sweetest thing you were ever inspired to do for your Valentine?
Back to birthday cakes. I bake him a German Chocolate cake every year for his birthday. I’m more successful with it than he was with my chocolate cake, but these have got to be one of the most difficult of all cakes to make. I always ask him why his favorite couldn’t be a simple white cake.

Well, I’m sure you can guess who my Valentine is. I hope others might be a little more original.