Happy Valentine's Day!

There doesn't seem to be a definitive history of the holiday. About the only thing known for certain is that the Catholic church recognized one, or more, Saints named Valentine or Valentinus. Beyond that, everything becomes very sketchy. None the less, it has become the day people choose to express their love for another.

Remember when we were kids and we decorated a shoebox with construction paper hearts. You had to have a special place to collect all of the Valentines you would get. Man, what a stressful day for a little kid! I remember thinking, "I hope my box looks cool...","I hope I get a Valentine card from everyone...","I hope the hot chick that sits in the front knows my name." Of course you counted on Mom to buy cool cards for you to give. I mean, it was a stressful deal. But you gave everyone a card, so it wasn't obvious who you had the hots for.

Then we get older and everything changes. Now you give a Valentine to "the one"... unless you're a player and you like to live on the edge. The edge of insanity that is. Now, this is even more stressful! You single out one person and you hope they return the gesture... to only you. You no more than hand the Valentine, (which by now might be candy, or worse jewelry), to "the one" and you begin to think, "what does she think I mean by this?" Oh my God, the stress!

It's hard to know what to get sometimes. I stood around in a Walgreens, yes a drug store, looking for the right Valentine gift. This time around, boxer shorts with hearts or a box of chocolates was not saying the right thing. I settled on a reserved looking stuffed bear, cautiously holding a couple of roses. It looks like I feel. There's a different kind of stress to this particular Valentine's Day.