We can understand the basic differences in the meanings of
the title words. On some special days we celebrate: think of occasions like Christmas,
Hanukah, Thanksgiving, or the Fourth of July. We commemorate, rather than
celebrate, on Veterans Day or Memorial Day. The more solemn days like Yom
Kippur or Easter are observances. It’s really not too clear if we celebrate or
observe Halloween, but that’s another story and it depends on the age of the
people you poll.
St. Valentine’s Day should fall under the category of
observances. It is really just the observance of the day of the death of the
saint now associated with romantic love. St. Valentine was a martyred, third
century Roman who was often confused with other saintly Valentines who lived
during the early centuries Anno Domini. Not much is known about any of them,
but the saint who died on February 14 was singled out in the fourteenth century
by one Geoffrey Chaucer. He used him in a work of fiction, Parlement of Foules, (Fowls), writing about the fictitious
traditional celebration of St. Valentine’s Day as a day for lovers.
What started as fiction almost seven centuries ago has
become a fact, and a lucrative, commercial one to boot. On a cold February day,
one could wish that Chaucer had selected an otherwise-obscure saint who was
born in the spring – maybe a day in May. You know the line from Tennyson: “In
the spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” Yes, the spring would be more conducive to
romance: flowers are in bloom, the birds are singing their mating songs, and
every other living thing is tuned in to the beautiful weather. Birds do it,
bees do it.
Christmas tinsel is hardly swept away when the stores
explode with red and pink, gearing up for Valentine’s Day. Greeting cards run
the gamut from packets of little cards meant for school kids to exchange
(remember that?) to over-large, velvet-tufted expressions of undying love. And
don’t forget the stickers. Kids love them.
There is an ever-expanding range of choices for gifts for our
sweethearts, as well as an ever-expanding effort to get us to buy, buy, buy,
lest we disappoint our significant other. Flowers and the traditional
heart-shaped box of chocolates, and, of course, the Whitman Sampler (the
caramels are mine!) have been joined by teddy bears, pajamas, and other
personalized gifts. Jewelry has always been popular, and the more glitter the
better. We hope money is no object.
For us Seniors, it may all be getting to be a bit too much.
We’ve heard of the couples who take themselves to the card store where each
selects a card for their spouse, presents it to them, and has them read it.
They exchange a hug and a kiss, and then put the cards back in the racks. Fun
and inexpensive, and no tchotchke to find a home for.
The lasting legacies of the romance of Valentine’s Day are those
born in mid-November, as I was. We are
all Valentine Babies.
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