My Valentine's Day Post

I just overheard the following from a non-Jewish co-worker:

I heard that you can never gain ground in a relationship on Valentine's Day. No matter what you do, it always ends up in some disappointment of "is that it?" On the other hand, you can certainly lose ground in the relationship. So you have to do your due diligence...

To me, this is exactly the wrong approach to take with relationships. Allow me to explain.

I don't celebrate Valentine's Day. Not at all - no flowers, no candy - nothing. My wife knows this and kids me about it from time to time. I don't want to go into whether or not it is halachically permissible to celebrate the day -- even if it's OK to do so, it just doesn't feel right to me to celebrate a day connected to two Christian martyrs, even if the day has lost it's religious significance.

On the other hand, I try my utmost to make Eeees feel special every day so that every day is, in effect, Valentine's Day. I'm always looking for things that will cheer her up, ways to surprise her, unique gift ideas, etc. Likewise, she always does things for me to make me feel special. We don't *need* a Valentine's Day because, for us, every day is a day where we show our love for each other.

The result? Well, we've been married for over fifteen years and people still call us "the newlyweds."

So, men, take a hint. Valentine's Day isn't all that important. If you try your best year-round, you can safely skip the Feb 14 follies.

The Wolf