The origin of Valentine’s Day is more macabre than sappy sweet, but sometime in the Middle Ages the day on which a third-century saint named Valentine was martyred — the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints — was transformed into the day to celebrate love.
Many rituals evolved in ensuing centuries, from the ridiculous to the sublime to commercialism in the extreme.
Among these are the ever-popular Valentine’s greetings, which date in written form to the 1400s. A few hundred years later it became popular to present hand-made cards and small tokens of affection on this day. Although the first mass-produced Valentine’s cards were created by the “Mother of the Valentine,” Esther A. Howland, in the mid-1800s, by the 1900s advancements in printing capabilities led to commercially produced cards and helped spur the burgeoning greeting card industry. Last year an estimated 150 million Valentine’s Day cards were purchased in the U.S. alone, according to the Greeting Card Association.
Valentine’s continues to evolve. It still is popular for children to hand out cards and treacly treats to classmates and for adults to deliver red roses and cards to their significant others. Today we report the story of the love of two people separated by an international border, as told by one such couple on today’s front page, and of a couple who, despite the odds, fell in love and chose a future together that has lasted more than three decades.
But today leaves out a huge chunk of society, millions of people who are spending today, through their own choice or not, without partners.
Among such people today is also known as “singles’ awareness day” and it has spawned a revolt, if you will.
Some single adults are embracing the opportunity to celebrate that fact. There are anti-Valentine’s greeting cards, singles’ get-togethers, and special events targeting those who will be single on Valentine’s. Others choose simply to ignore the day and all of its trappings and go on with their lives.
However you choose to mark today, whether with your significant other or with family or friends, we hope you find yourself surrounded by love, the kind that lasts a lifetime.
THE ISSUE:
Today is Valentine’s Day.
WE SAY:
Celebrate the kind of love that lasts a lifetime.
WHAT DO YOU SAY?
Send us your thoughts on this topic to www.ivpressonline.com/letterstotheeditor
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.
