Single Awareness Day

Happy Single’s Awareness Day! Yes, that’s right, today is Singles Awareness Day (unless of course, you’re one of those radicals who celebrate it Feb 13th or 15th.) Suggested activities for this day are sending yourself flowers and cards, reading poetry to yourself, going out for dinner or planning parties for other singles to mix and meet and to participate in some sort of single's event. (This is especially recommended if you don't WANT to be single. Of course, for those who kind of like being single it's a blessing and a reason to have some fun!) Whatever you do though, when celebrating SAD, you must avoid reading such poems as:

My love is like a artichoke
Divided into two
The leaves I give to others,
The heart I give to you

or

You may not “carrot” all for me
The way I care for you
You may “turnip” your nose
When I plead with you
But if your “heart” should “beet” with mine
Tomorrow “lettuce” hope
There is no reason in the world
Why we “cantaloupe”

Being the recipient of a dozen roses today from my sweetest of hearts, I have to admit there is another holiday celebrated today. (I won’t get sloppy by enumerating all of his strengths, but will say he’s good at everything he does!)

In ancient Roman society, Feb 15 was the date on which the annual fertility festival was held. Young Roman men would draw the name of a young woman from out of an urn and then would exchange gifts with her on Festival day. In 463, Pope Gelasius decided to put a Christian spin on this pagan holiday and declared that it was now to honor St. Valentine, martyred on Feb. 14th.

Which one?

Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who suffered martyrdom on Feb. 14, 269 AD. According to a biography of Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda, the priest was also a doctor who would treat patients even if they could not pay him.
His legend: During a ban on marriages of Roman soldiers by the Emperor Claudius II who felt that love and marriage would create unnecessary distractions for his soldiers. It would distract them from warfare. St. Valentine secretly helped arrange marriages.

Valentine of Terni was bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been killed on February 14th, during the persecution of Emperor Aurelian.
Legend: On the evening before Valentine was to be martyred for being a Christian, he passed a love note to his jailer's daughter that read, "From your Valentine."

There is a third St. Valentine from Africa who was also martyred on February 14, but I don’t know his story( I’m sure there’s some mention of love in it somewhere with a name like Valentine)

Valentinius of Alexandria (c. 100 - c. 153) was a candidate for Bishop of Rome in 143. In his teachings, the marriage bed assumed a central place in his version of Christian love, an emphasis sharply contrasting with the asceticism of mainstream Christianity.

By the middle Ages, people started referring to each other as “valentines” and exchanged “I love you’s” on Feb. 14th. Things were carried so far that a "High Court of Love" was established in Paris on Valentine's Day in 1400. The court dealt with love contracts, betrayals, and violence against women. Judges were selected by women on the basis of a poetry reading.

The earliest surviving valentine dates from 1415. It is a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife. At the time, the duke was being held in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt.

Esther Howland (1828-1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts is credited with mass producing the first Valentines cards in the US. Her father operated a large book and stationery store, and she took her inspiration from an English valentine she received.

In the second half of the 20th century, the practice of exchanging cards expanded and people started exchanging gifts, typically roses and chocolates. In the 1980s, the diamond industry began to promote Valentine's Day as an occasion for giving jewelry.

Personally, I think that the best gift you can share on Valentines Day (along with roses) is the gift of laughter, so, courtesy of Reader’s Digest Here’s a few laughs.:

My high-school English teacher was well known for being a fair, but hard, grader. One day I received a B minus on a theme paper. In hopes of bettering my grade and in the spirit of the valentine season, I sent her an extravagant heart-shaped box of chocolates with the pre-printed inscription: "BE MINE." The following day, I received in return a valentine from the teacher. It read: "Thank you, but it's still BE MINE-US."
-- Contributed by Brad Wilcox

During World War II my parents had planned a romantic Valentine's Day wedding. Suddenly my father, then stationed at Camp Edwards in Massachusetts, received orders to prepare to ship out, and all leaves were canceled. Being a young man in love, he went AWOL. He and my mother were married four days earlier than originally planned and he returned to base to an angry sergeant. After hearing the explanation, the sergeant understandingly replied, "Okay, okay!" Then, as an afterthought: "But don't let it happen again!"
-- Contributed by Sandra L. Caron

The lingerie store where my aunt works was crowded with shoppers selecting Valentine's Day gifts for their wives. A young businessman came to the register with a lacy black negligee. My aunt noticed that the next customer, an elderly farmer, was holding a long flannel nightgown and kept glancing at the younger man's sexier choice. When it was his turn, the farmer placed the nightgown on the counter. "Would you have anything in black flannel?" He asked.
-- Contributed by Christine A. Pandolfo


*** to my handsomest husband in the whole world*** Love you~~Me