Kerry Says

Tomorrow is St. Valentine's Day. I am a single woman.

These two facts may indicate to some people that it's time to stop reading lest they become blinded by the white hot rage emanating from the anti-love diatribe that's sure to follow.

But rest assured your eyes are safe. I love love. And I love Valentine's Day.

I love it in all its shiny, ruby, candy-hearted, sappy torch-song glory. I love the grandness of it. The cherubs. The sparkle. I always have.

I love the idea of little tiny cards and wee presents. The thoughtfulness of it. The carnations from your father, the candy hearts left on your desk.

I love the sumptuousness of it. The rich, dark chocolate, the silk and oysters and wine and roses.

Those who feel it unworthy due to its commercial nature be damned. No it's not necessary to do something for the people you love just because it's February 14th. But it's nice. It's nice to tell the people you love that you love them. And it's nice to hear it. Any day, even that day.

Whenever I hear people bemoan the tawdriness and tackiness of V-day I am reminded that the single most romantic gesture of I have ever witnessed happened on a Valentine's Day.

When we were 19, a friend of mine fell for someone. He had a girlfriend and there was no indication that that was going to change. But she fell anyway, the way you sometimes do. She decided she wanted to let him know, and Valentine’s Day seemed the right day to do it.

Many of her friends tried to dissuade her. It wasn't going to end well. It would be embarrassing. She wouldn’t get anything out of it. But she didn’t want anything out of it, except to let him know she thought he was funny and perfect and wonderful because she thought he might like to know.

So she found the perfect card (simple, beautiful and blank) and hand picked and arranged a dozen white flowers. And she wrote a message sweet and simple and signed her name and brought the flowers over to his house herself.

And when she knocked and found he wasn’t there, she left them on the porch. Left them there for him to laugh at, or groan at, or throw away or brag to all his friends about. But he did none of those things. What he did was tell her that it was the sweetest thing any one had ever done for him.

And he stayed with his girlfriend and her life didn't change, but she had spoken truthfully about love. At 30 I can't say I've ever done that. Not so earnestly or with so little to gain. But every time I think about it I'm inspired to. There's nothing tawdry about that.