Happy Valentine's Day!

This picture fits the occassion perfectly! At least for me. The reason is because I love tigers. They are my absolute favorite animal. They are fierce, yet graceful. But this post isn't really about tigers.

I had a boyfriend once who gave me a stuffed tiger simply because he knew how much I loved them. It's been 9 years now since I dated him but I still have that tiger. Even after I set it on top of a lamp and it caught fire (the poor tiger's bum is now completely roasted), I just haven't been able to part with it. Not because of who gave it to me, but because it represents not only my love of tigers, but someone else's love for me. He gave me something that I love. It wasn't jewelry or anything else fancy and expensive...but he knew I'm a much too practical person for such frivolous stuff like that anyway. This simple gift showed me that he truly knew me and understood me and that meant more than anything.

Which leads me to the point of this post. Valentine's Day. This is a day I used to despise for two reasons. The first was (and still is) because I thought it was stupid that there was one day out of the year that was set aside for people to spend money on someone and tell them they love them. In my opinion, that should happen everyday. But I think the main reason that I despised Valentine's Day was because I never had a Valentine. All my relationships either happened before or after Valentine's Day, so each time that day rolled around, I was still completely alone. And as all of us single people know, it's hard to be alone on a day where everyone around you is being showered with love.

But over the last few years, my opinion on this matter has changed. I haved learned that we don't need to have one special Valentine (though it would be nice). When I was up at Utah State, I had several very good friends, most of which were guys. One particular Valentine's day, I was working and I had gone to get some lunch. When I returned, I saw a single red rose sitting in a vase on my desk. Attached to this rose was a sticky note that said

"Happy Valentine's Day Camille!
Love, your Latin Lover".

I knew exactly who that rose had come from: just a dear, sweet friend (who, ironically enough, is not even Latino). It was nothing romantic but it still brought a smile to my face to know that he cared about me. Later that night, I had a TV night with another good friend (also nothing romantic). When he showed up at my house, he carried in his hand a massive heart shaped balloon that said "Happy Valentine's Day!" on it. When I asked him what it was for, he said he just wanted me to get a Valentine. Something so simple, yet it meant so much.

Since leaving USU, I haven't had those kind of Valentine's days. These guys are now married with families of their own. But it's because of them that my view of Valentine's day has forever changed. The day isn't necessarily about having one person to love who loves you back. It is about expressing your love to others in ways that will be meaningful to them. And it doesn't only have to be on Valentine's day!

So now instead of feeling sorry for myself over the fact that I don't have a Valentine, I have learned to enjoy the day for what it is: a reminder that there are important people in my life who I care about, and who care about me in return.

So to all of you out there who are reading this, I want you to know that you are MY important people. Thank you for being my friends and for taking the time to love me. You are the greatest people in the world and you will always be my Valentines!