Why not February 26th...?

I know that this will sound like a cliché, but it’s a fact...

Wikipedia and other sources would have you believe that Valentine’s Day was actually named after an individual… or an event…. or both… possibly going back to the 14th century, or thereabouts.

Perhaps, maybe and yeah, right.

I still think that Hallmark had everything to do with it.

Let’s see, Christmas and Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan et al have passed. Next is St. Patrick's Day*, then Easter and Passover. Hmmm… what can we do to ensure yet another gi-normous “blip!” in our sales figures? How about, oh I don’t know mid-way through the shortest month of the year… and so February 14th, Valentine’s Day came to pass.

Here’s the cliché; I don’t need a special day to tell my partner, my wife, my best friend (yes, it’s the same person) that I love her – I can do that any and every day. For the record, I’d be lying if I said that I did – I’m told just thinking it does count, though.

God help me if I forget and a card, a real “I-need-to-touch-this” card, not a “fake” card, one of those oh-so-convenient-I-forgot-cards (an “e-card”), does not appear with TLATO’s morning double espresso though!

That did happen. Once.

And yes, although Sheryl is in Florida at the moment, I did tuck a card into her purse as she left our house Sunday. I was advised that I would also find one, hopefully before the day itself.

Monday morning, there was a bright red envelope in my underwear drawer.

And so, without further ceremony, merry Valentine’s Day to you all – and especially to you, Sheryl. Love you!

*Oh yes, why do we not "celebrate" other Saints Days for that matter? St. George's Day; St. David's Day or even St. Andrew (we're talking UK "events"). With due respect, how the heck did the Irish manage to swing that one, St. Patrick's Day -- on both sides of the pond??