V-Day (Or Should I say D-Day...)

Now that the holiday season has come to a close, the other lesser holidays are welcome to grace the shelves of CVS’ everywhere and have their 15 minutes of fame. The current flavor of the month is Valentine’s Day, a holiday (like many celebrated in the U.S.) that is so far removed from its origins it may as well find itself a new name. For those of you who don’t know, Valentine’s Day is named for St. Valentinus, a priest who tried to convert the Roman Emperor to Christianity and was stoned to death. If that doesn’t scream romance, I don’t know what does.

Valentine’s Day usually generates a sense of annoyance within me (most likely due to my perpetual single-ness) but this year I am turning over a new leaf. I’ve decided that my usual protocol of wearing all black in protest of the holiday and the inordinate amounts of sugar I am likely to consume just wasn’t cutting it. Today, I am sporting red under my black suit, meeting my old self and the receptionist in my office halfway between funeral and heart pattern overkill.

I have decided that if Russell Stover and Hallmark reserve the right to concoct their own versions of the meaning on Valentine’s Day, then I should do the same. So many of the holidays are dictated by the people you have (or don’t have) in your life. Christmas wouldn’t be quite as magical if there weren’t children running around believing in the best-kept secret on earth. Thanksgiving is often depicted as a long rectangular table overflowing with carbohydrates and at least a dozen rosy-cheeked white people smiling in adoration of one another. Valentine’s Day is no different; commercials and cards alike insinuate that being single is so last season and if you don’t have a boo come February 14, you are out. Auf wiedersehen.

But what if you don’t have children or your own version of Madea’s Family reunion? Do Christmas and Thanksgiving mean less to you? Of course not, because you understand that under all the glitz and glam (and weight gain) those holidays are about being thankful and spreading joy. So, my resolution this year is to spread the love of Valentine’s Day around the campus of Montclair State University and—by means of my social networking systems—to all of my friends and family elsewhere in the country. I am very blessed and lucky to have you all in my life and absolutely wouldn’t give any of you up for anything. Today is about love, and that doesn’t necessarily have to be the romantic dinner and candlelit kind of love. So this is me, sending all of my love to all of you. Now go out there and spread that love.