When I was single,  I hated Valentine’s Day.  Now that I’m coupled up, I still hate Valentine’s Day.  It’s a ridiculous holiday.  I’ve searched the web for more info on the history of Valentine’s Day, and it’s sketchy to say the least.  After a brief search, I already have 8 different theories on who St. Valentine was and what he did.  None of them are particularly good stories.  And they all boil down to man being martyred.

I did, however, find one interesting story about the holiday’s past:

The lovers’ holiday traces its roots to raucous annual Roman festivals where men stripped naked, grabbed goat- or dog-skin whips, and spanked young maidens in hopes of increasing their fertility.

Not to be too crass, but I can almost guarantee that there will be “celebrations” of naked men and young maidens nation-wide tonight.  Apparently people haven’t changed all that much since the rule of the Roman Empire…

I just don’t get the whole concept.  I’m convinced that Valentine’s Day would have died out ages ago if it weren’t for companies like Hallmark.  Even at my kid’s school, you had to bring a Valentine for every kid in the class.  I’m not trying to a scrooge here, but we still have Christmas candy at our house.  I can promise you we don’t need Valentine candy, too.  The Easter Bunny will be bringing chocolate eggs soon enough.  (That’s another holiday that has been destroyed by mass marketing, by the way.  What in the world do a rabbit and eggs have to do with the death & resurrection of Christ??)

I’ve wandered far, far from where I meant to go with this post.  My point was that although I think Valentine’s Day is silly, I do think it’s important to do something special and thoughtful for your spouse.  I just don’t think it should be tied down to a certain date.  Celebrate them at other times when they don’t expect it.  I got flowers from Marshall yesterday…just because.  It was nice; especially since it was a surprise!   And, if Marsh is lucky, I might just buy some Zaxby’s and some candles one day next week when he’s expecting to eat leftovers for dinner yet again.