14 February

Yesterday, the husband sent me to work & the radio hosts were discussing V-day over the air. They were psyched up and excited about the pending occasion. The husband and I listened to them rave about the day with stoic expressions.

“Valentine’s day has lost its buzz for you?” – his statement was disguised in a vague form of a question.

I thought about it and I didn’t know how to respond.

Typically, we hadn’t always made a fuss of the day (not in my recollection). But I’m sure we did celebrate it some year or other. The most memorable V-day celebration with the husband took place some 15 years ago. We were boy-girl friends then and the husband had arranged a special dinner at a hotel. I remember dolling up in a dress (an unheard of, I was a tomboy at 16!) and we had a candlelight dinner. We took a picture, compliments of the hotel and there were flowers to top it all up. Aahhh, the romanticism of youth. Nice.

V-day is meant to be romantic and a celebration. To those who are out of love. It’s rather sad because they feel even more lonesome because everyone else is harping on the four-letter word (terribly dirty in their opinion. It’s L.O.V.E, I’m talking about la). To those who are freshly in love, the day is exceptionally sweet because it allows them yet another excuse/reason to be gushy and lovey and well, do an outright display of their undying love to each other.

So. Back to the question, what does V-day mean to me?

I’m not in either category mentioned above. I’m very fortunate to be in a relationship, a very happy relationship. Sure, the husband and I have our moments and ours is a real r’ship where we talk, work things out, fight, argue, get grumpy then make up and move on with our lives. So V-day isn’t a super special day, cos it’s just like every other day. However, I don’t dread the day because I am secure and happy being myself and where I am. Do I want anything special? Not necessarily. Though it will be nice to be able to have dinner with the husband and Kate because V-day is a day for loved ones.

Commercialism is rampant and we are unable to stop or control how certain occasions get done or over-done by antics. Also, if something exceptionally happy/unhappy happened to you, that day will always hold some sort of significance for you. I guess what I’m trying to say is, regardless of how you are feeling about any occasion, whether it’s V-day or Christmas or birthdays etc, as long as you have your mind and heart in the right place, you can tackle them as they come.

14 February is around the corner. What does this day mean to you?