kiwords

The brilliant Shelley has an essay in the February 17 issue of Woman’s Day. Since I am an avid reader of Shelley’s blog and a simpering fan of hers, I made sure to pick it up the last time I was at the grocery store. I even put it on my list, because I no longer trust mere intention to cause me to actually remember something.
Fortunately it was displayed on one of those end cap display thingies as I went to check out. Oh right, Women’s Day, I thought. I reached for it.
Then stopped.
February 17. It’s a pink cover with a heart-shaped cake on it. “Happy Valentine’s Day!” it shouts in white print.
Ick. Valentine’s Day.
I don’t go around thinking about my singleness much. My life is fairly full and all…but Valentine’s Day. It’s so pointed. 100% focused on love – and not the many varieties of love a person can experience, like love for your kids or your beautiful stupid cat. It’s all about that special person. Or, as the cover of the February 17 issue of Woman’s Day proclaims, “Romantic Ideas That Say ‘I Love You.’”
Ick.
I know, romantic ideas are good. Saying “I love you” is a fine thing. I support that sort of thing, I really do. But it’s hard not to feel like the one who didn’t get picked for a team.
So what to do about Valentine’s Day?
I pondered the magazine while I waited in line. I thought back over the last few years. My ex left on Halloween. Thanksgiving was hard. Christmas was horrible. New Years was a blur. I remember being in the grocery store a few days after New Years. Whew, I thought, I made it. The holiday season is finally behind me. I survived. Just then I rounded a corner and came face to face with a huge Valentine’s Day display.
I stared at it for a few minutes, and something slowly dawned on me. February had Valentine’s Day. March has my birthday and my ex’s (his is the day before mine…we always celebrated together), May has Mother’s Day, June has Father’s Day AND Raphael’s birthday, July – Tre’s birthday, August – Max’s birthday, September – when everything fell apart, October – when he left, and then it’s November and we’re back into the holidays.
Hardly a month during the year without some painful reminder or another.
So what to do about Valentine’s Day? Well, the same thing I’ve been doing every day for the last two plus years. Get over it.
I bought the magazine (the essay is fabulous, way to go Shelley), and I even read the whole thing. Sort of. I kind of flipped through the really romantic bits, singing to myself “lalalalalalala….I’m not looking at that…lalalala.”
I even found a recipe I’m going to try. Just goes to show you.
Get over it.