Tina Jensen: I do not hate Valentine's Day

When the calendar hit February, my mother gave me a call. She said something like this: (in a soft, careful manner) "So it is February. Your most hated day of the year is fast approaching." She wouldn't even say the day. It was as if she was a Harry Potter character talking about "you know who." It is somewhat sad to think that mother believes that I hate Valentines Day to the point of not even being able to conjure up the name in my presence. However, I can not blame her for her perception. Even though I no longer hate Valentine's Day, I used to detest it in my youth. I began to think about where this all stemmed from. I mean, I loved giving/recieving Valentine's Day cards when I was in elementary. What I have come up with is a series of unfortunate events.

1. In middle school, it seemed as if all of the other girls would receive flowers or chocolates from their boyfriends. I did not have a boyfriend nor want one, but on V-day I always felt left out. Stop. Don't sympathize. I was 12. It is okay.

2. By ninth grade, I was sick of the flowers situation and stopped going to school on V-day. Yes, it was pretty extreme. I was able to take the day off and work at the local flower shop making candy kiss roses and delivery flowers. Strangely, it made me happy to be at the flower shop on that day. I loved to deliver flowers to people in my community.

3. My fate was sealed on Valentine's Day my Junior year. I again did not want to go to school on V-day so my parents thought it would help to take me shopping in Idaho Falls. The day was going great. However, it had started to snow. I was running from a store out to our pickup truck, my head was down and I was running at full speed. Whack!!! I had run into a four by four piece of wood that was hanging out of the back of my father's pickup truck. It knocked me to the ground. I was dizzy and had a painful sensation on my forehead. My mother told me that I looked fine and no one would even notice. We went to the next store and I knew that she had lied to me. Everyone was staring. A woman I did not even know came up to me and said "Oh my gosh. What happened to you?" I found a mirror and was horrified when I discovered that I had a huge indent on my red forehead. Well, of course I ended up with a huge bruise on my forehead and a black eye that lasted for weeks.

Thank goodness that my detestation for Valentine's Day has been remedied by much more positive experiences with the day. I just want my mom to know that I no longer hate the day.

Happy Valentines Day to a few of the people I love the most!!!

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