I HEART ME

 

Ah, it’s Valentine’s month again!

Around this time of year, I see weepy letters in the advice columns from needy people crying, along with those on Facebook with boo hoo, boo hoo I'm alone on Valentine's Day! For me, it's WOO HOO! WOO HOO! I'm alone on another holiday. The day is ALL MINE!

I have spent every single Valentine's Day alone and I LOVE Valentine's Day!  It's a holiday and what's not to love about a holiday? Plus, there are chocolates and pretty cards involved! – Friends, relatives, & I exchange cards, and I buy myself candy, only the chocolates I prefer!

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for lovers!

Before the age of thirty I made five trips to Europe, toured Russia & the Ukraine, been to North Africa, also Finland, Guatemala, and the Bahamas, made two trips to Mexico, and also visited Canada at age eight. However, I was forty years old before I went out on my first date.

I recall Valentine's Day was loads of fun back in elementary school. We had class parties with fruit punch & decorated cookies. Everything about it felt special! And everyone in class received a Valentine card from everyone else whether we liked them or not.

More than once, I’ve purchased a heart-shaped cake for myself to celebrate. A friend laughingly suggested I write: I LOVE ME across the top. No need, the sentiment is already there! Hey, I love myself enough for ten people and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

Always on Valentine's Day I prepare a special meal for myself. Last year it was quiche with mushrooms, chives, & Havarti cheese served with a colorful salad. And for dessert I enjoyed the largest juiciest strawberries dipped in both white & dark chocolate, plus coconut-flavored tea all served upon my formal table beneath the chandelier. 

Hey, I’ve had boyfriends and dates since age forty. I was never happy in any of those relationships, I much prefer the company of my female friends. With them, we can have our separate lives and still be close. Men try to glom onto me and attach themselves like a goiter. And before long, I’m sick of them and want them gone.

I would never place my happiness in the hands of another person, that's where it always goes to die.