The Perfect Valentine
I saw this quote at the post office below a display of Valentines for sale, and it got me thinking about February, the month of love.
Recently on a walk with my dog I spotted a yellow, two inch square Post-it Note carelessly tossed on the grass, or perhaps accidentally lost, bearing the message, “I love you,” and signed, “Jerome.”
Don’t laugh. It’s far better than the young man texting his feelings to the girl.
Digital romance is cold. The girl may not respond. Or worse, an electronic love confession might wind up in the SPAM folder, or never be received at all.
Better to have loved and lost, etc… So I recommend committing confessions of the heart to paper, not ever to a hand-held screen. If the letter, the note, even the Post-it Note reveals heart-felt sentiment, those words might wind up tucked under a loved-one’s pillow instead of being erased.
Countless emotions are set in play when the postman delivers a love letter or card to a surprised recipient. The anticipation. The scent on the envelope. The message scribbled on the back flap. The true meaning of those little X’s and O’s. The thrill of ripping open the envelope, removing the contents of a love letter.
My boyfriends always had a lot to say.
I still have the commercial card a boy I hardly knew sent me when we were in eighth grade. His Valentine read: I like you very much. Be my Valentine, but he had marked through like and written love.
Busy couples who no longer put their thoughts on paper when they are separated for any length of time do not know what they’re missing. It’s so much easier to write love words than to say them and a separation gives the couple the perfect chance. I still have a stack of love letters tied with a blur ribbon my fiancé wrote to me after I dropped out of college to go home and prepare from our wedding. Sure we could have talked on the phone each night, but we didn’t.
Holding a love letter is the second best thing to holding your lover’s hand, so surprise him by expressing your love the old fashioned way. Write a love letter today. Make it hot. If you don’t squirm while you’re writing it, start over again.
My books with lots of squirm factor are available here:
flame arden 