Valentine’s Day is a holiday that brings mixed emotions to different people. From my own experience, it seems guys are almost indifferent about it and see it as just another day to have to spend money on their girlfriends, girls with boyfriends love it and single girls are more miserable than usual on that particular day. In fact, many people know it as Single Awareness Day.
No matter who you are and no matter whether you are single or not, you must have heard of Valentine’s Day. Chances are, you probably celebrate it, too. In my case, this will be merely my second year to celebrate it with a significant other, but it feels like I acquired millions of those little Valentine cards throughout my younger days.
Even though everyone celebrates Valentine’s Day (or at least acknowledges it) in some way, many people probably do not know the history behind it. Since this is an opinion article and not a history article, I will give a brief explanation of its origins without going too deep.
The name Valentine is in honor of St. Valentine, obviously, but it might not be as simple as it seems. Actually, there were three martyrs, each named Valentine (or Valentinus), who are accredited for the name of the holiday.
One of the stories that seems to relate to our modern idea of Valentine’s Day closest is Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. Emperor Claudius II decided single men made better soldiers than those who were married with families, so he outlawed marriage for young men.
Valentine did not agree with Claudius’s ruling, so he defied Claudius and secretly proceeded to perform marriages for young people who had fallen in love. Once Claudius heard of Valentine’s actions, he ordered for Valentine to be put to death.
That’s where the name originated from, but what about those silly little cards I mentioned earlier? One legend states Valentine himself sent the very first “Valentine” greeting. This greeting was sent to a young woman he had fallen in love with while in prison (perhaps his jailor’s daughter) who visited him while he was incarcerated. Before he died, it is believed he wrote a letter to this young lady and signed it, “From your Valentine,” which is still commonly seen on Valentine cards today.
The placement of the holiday is also a topic that has many different proposed purposes. My favorite would have to be that during the Middle Ages, Feb. 14 was believed to be the beginning of birds’ mating season. This aspect added to the idea Valentine’s Day should be a day set aside for romance. Another explanation is February was the official beginning of spring in ancient Rome and was considered a time for purification. Whatever the reason for the date, Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 as St. Valentine’s Day about 498 A.D.
I admit before two years ago, I didn’t look forward to Valentine’s Day just as much as the next single guy, but now I can appreciate there is a day set aside to honor the love between two people. However, I’m sure I don’t appreciate it as much as the greeting card and gift companies.
These days, gifts are usually exchanged and can become very extravagant. The Greeting Card Association said approximately a billion Valentine cards are sent each year. This makes Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year (right behind Christmas). Other popular gifts include stuffed animals, anything with hearts on it and, possibly more than anything else, chocolate.
One day, I was flipping through the television channels when I happened upon the Public Broadcasting Station. The show that was on looked like PBS shows usually look like some kind of performance during which two smiling ladies beg you to send money to the station (you know, the kind where a “$100 gift” will earn you a $15 CD). I decided to watch anyway, and I’m glad I did. The performance was done by a group called Celtic Woman, and I quickly fell in love with its music.
This might sound like it has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, but it does. My girlfriend got us both tickets to see Celtic Woman in its tour called Songs From the Heart on the night before Valentine’s Day this year. We are both trying to watch what we eat, so this will hopefully fill any holes left by the absence of chocolate this year.
                  Valentine’s Day is a day to be with the one you love and show that person how much you appreciate him or her. You might not be going to a concert like I, but find time to just cuddle up close to that guy or girl you love and let that person know you care.
Jay Ballard is a freshman majoring in chemistry. He can be contacted at [email protected].