Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Black Valentine

By Mark W. Danielson

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Lyne and I had a great time dining at McCormick’s at the historic Oxford Hotel in Denver. The Home and Garden Show had just opened at the Convention Center so we made a stop there, spending far more time researching windows than expected. Each year, we make the trek to see what we’d like to put in our new home. For us, Valentine’s Day will extend into the next evening when we go out to dinner and then to a concert to see Lady Antebellum. We consider ourselves blessed to have each other and love celebrating this day.

But Valentine’s Day is one of those days you either love or hate, and the number of negative Facebook comments seemed to have outweighed the positive ones. One post stated that fifty percent of the people together this Valentine’s Day won’t be together next Valentine’s Day, and of those couples who stay together, twenty percent will be cheating on each other within the next 364 days. Now, I have no idea who came up with these statistics, but I hope they’re wrong.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I still believe in monogamous relationships, so long as you’re with the right person. Admittedly, I’ve experienced relationships that didn’t work, and at times shared the bitterness of this lover’s holiday. But as with writing, perseverance prevailed, and I know that Lyne and I will always be together.

So for those of you who didn’t have such a great day, I’m sorry, but remember that Valentine’s Day is not only about romantic relationships, but a day to celebrate our relationships with family and friends.

5 comments:

Jaden Terrell said...

I've always liked Valentine's Day, from decorating the valentine box as a child to spending a lovely evening with my sweetheart earlier this week. It doesn't have the trappings or the weeks and weeks of buildup of Halloween or Christmas, but it's nice to take an evening just for romance.

Plus, there's chocolate.

Mark W. Danielson said...

Beth, I agree with taking an evening just for romance. In fact, I recommend it at least once a week, Life's too short not to partake in such fine things as chocolate . . .

Jackie King said...

Mark, I loved your post. I love Valentine's Day, too and agree with all of what you said. However, after one rather nasty divorce, I was always afraid to take the plunge again. The upside is that I've had lots and lots of fun murdering my ex on paper.

Mark W. Danielson said...

Jackie, the beauty in writing is you can kill off whoever you like. (It's much easier than re-writing.)

As for divorce, been there, done that, and so has my current wife. In spite of our divorce agony, the two of us found each other and our lives are much better off because of it. There are plenty of good singles out there. Don't give up on love:)

Jackie King said...

So glad you've found your perfect mate, Mark. And I certainly haven't given up on romance. LOVE writing about it. Just perfer to stay on the sidelines and cheer others on. :-)