Who Was Saint Valentine? Does He Know How His Holiday Makes Us Feel?

Who Was Saint Valentine? Does He Know How His Holiday Makes Us Feel?

Julia @ Kids Matter

Date: Valentines Day, February 14^th 1993.

Heroine: Me. Action: The 4^th delivery of red/pink roses to yet another skinny, beautiful, and popular female.

Place: High school classroom of heartless athletics coach who was given the required task of teaching world history; a job he should NOT have been given, and was not qualified to perform.

          To a chubby unpopular girl, it is one of the most undesirable days of the year. It’s a constant reminder that you have no boyfriend, still haven’t lost any weight on your diet, and are still too scared to wear contacts. Now, I did get flowers every year from my mother, who knew my pain and tried to comfort me through it.

          But why do we feel this way? Why is it that we need Valentine’s Day to make us feel pretty, loved, and desired? Who was this hack Valentine anyway? Does he know that single people everywhere are made to feel like MAJOR losers every February 14^th?

           There are several differing stories of the martyred man, Valentinus. One is that the Roman Emperor Claudius II decided that single men make better soldiers that those with wives. Like most bone headed moves made by an early aged emperor, he banned marriage. Valentinus found this as idiotic as I do and began secretly performing marriages. This did not bode well and he was put to death.

          Another popular theory has our hero being jailed for helping Christians escape Roman prisons, where they were beaten and tortured daily. It is said that Valentine fell for a woman, believed to be the jailor’s daughter, and sent her a note before his death signed, ‘From Your Valentine’.

          My uneducated opinion is that the man, who secretly married people behind the back of an emperor, is romantic and worthy of a day celebrated in honor of love. I do believe he was imprisoned for defying Claudius. However, and I also believe he fell for a woman while there and gave her the very first ‘valentine card’.

          I think back, and laugh, to when I was 17 and having flowers sent to me in history class being a matter of life and death. I now know what Valentine meant for us all to learn. Love is love and it is everywhere you look.

          The love of my single mother struggling to make ends meet, somehow finding the money to send me very expensive flowers… that is love. I think that is what St. Valentine would like to see in honor of his name.

          Happy Valentine’s Day to you and to all those we love. Let’s go back to our childhoods and pass out valentines to one another. Mail a Valentine to your mother and buy some small old school Star Wars themed ones for your coworkers. Place a small heart shaped piece of chocolate on their desk along with it. You will feel quite warm for passing on a little love.

Halloween: A Month Long Celebration

Kim @ Kids Matter

At this time of year, my mind leaps to a simpler time when I was about eight years of age.  It was the most exciting and fun holiday, rated right up there with Easter and Christmas.  I am talking, of course, about Halloween. 

Halloween starts way before its calendar date with almost every porch displaying the crazy, fun, scary, and sometimes gruesome decorations appeared. The big decision arrives. What would I be for Halloween?  Then the shopping began, the hunt for the most exciting and trendy costume that I could get my mother to purchase. Soon there were parties and local city Carnivals! You know the Halloween Carnival that’s held on the same corner year after year? It’s complete with bobbing for apples and a most fabulous cake walk. I won a cake one year. My fondest memory is the paint booth with the flying paint making wonderful designs. Do you remember the silly mirror exhibit; where we are tall, small, skinny, and fat?   Oh, and the rides!  Yes, the magnificent rides!  The ones that made me squeal with pure terror then beg and beg for more tickets to ride.

Then Halloween night finally arrived.  It was always more fun if you trick or treated with a friend who was also sleeping over.  Our laughter joined all the other children’s laughter as we raced up and down the streets of the neighborhood getting a thrill as we knocked on EVERY door.  The over the top costumes of adults answering the door and, if you were really lucky, someone in the neighborhood made a haunted house in their garage.  We would be duly scared to death and shrieking loudly as we bailed out the garage back door laughing and feeling that giddy childhood happiness.

Then, the moment of truth!  We sat on my bedroom floor sorting and stacking our mounds of each different, delicious candy we had received.  You remember bubble gum, suckers, the wonderful big thick Cherry Charms suckers (that we can’t find anymore), Pixie Stix, Now & Laters, SweetTarts, Mary Janes, and best of all… BIG candy bars!  We would eat and eat and eat and finally fall asleep exhausted by the greatest Halloween ever!

Now here we are as parents and grandparents watching our own little ones faces light up just the same way. The candy may be different. Popcorn balls may be extinct due to safety factors. But… one thing is for sure; Halloween is one short day within a month long celebration of fun, hauntings, and last but not least… CANDY!! Think back, what was that one special candy you just beamed over when sorting your haul?