What a potentially stressful day for some. If you stop and think about it, there can be a lot of pressure on a person on Valentine's Day. Lucky for me and Tebo we don't get caught up in the "romantic" part of this day each year. Maybe that's because of maturity or feeling completely comfortable in our relationship or what, but I personally feel like we do a great job every day of letting each other know we love each other and we don't feel the need to just do something outlandish on Feb. 14th each year. However, there are new relationships out there that I am sure are packed with pressure (especially on him) to know what to do and how much to do. It's like a balancing act. I'm sure they don't want to go overboard with stuff or fall short. I know I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. On the other hand you have the recipient of said "stuff" and how does she react if she feels like it was either too much or not enough without either hurting his feelings or pushing him away? Then you have the spouses that have lost their better half (for whatever reason). How do they celebrate without feeling completely overwhelmed with sadness or even guilt. That can't be easy and I know personally it's hard for those who love that person left here to know how to approach that day for them. Tebo and I find ourselves in that situation X's two these days. His sister who is just the salt of the earth lost her husband Feb. 7, 2008 and he always got her something special for Valentine's Day. Last year Tebo had the thought that we should pick up that tradition for her so we employ our friend Ally at Daisy & Elm to create her one of a kind treasure for her each year and we send it to her. It's our little way of letting her know that we are thinking of her on this hard day each year. Then we have Katie. Katie became our daughter Sept. 18, 2009 when she married Chad. Most of you know that we lost Chad in the war in Afghanistan Dec. 1, 2010. She had only had the chance to have 1 face to face Valentine's Day with him before he was taken away. I was fortunate enough (with Trevor) to celebrate the first Valentine's Day with her while he was in Iraq. I can't imagine how hard it must be for her to celebrate this day each year since he passed away and that makes my heart ache for her. I try to make sure I send her a text or communicate in some way with her on that day so she knows I'm thinking of her, but it never really feels like enough.
Then you have those that aren't in a relationship (by choice) and you wonder, do they feel completely left out on Feb. 14th or do they have a tradition each year that helps them get through this "day of love" without feeling lonely or sad.
I know these are silly comments and thoughts, but every situation I've listed are situations I have experienced over the last few years and sometimes it gets me to thinking.
How do you and your significant other celebrate Valentine's Day? If you don't have a significant other do you celebrate or just treat it like any other day? Inquiring minds want to know.
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