Valentine’s Day was one of those gut-wrenching days when I was in grade school. It ranked right up there with having to recite a piece at the Christmas Sunday School program. I could empathize with Charlie Brown in the Peanuts cartoon when he would go to the mailbox hoping to find a Valentine from the little red-haired girl that he had a crush on. The mailbox was always empty. Poor ole Charlie Brown.
Unlike Charlie Brown, everyone in our one-room country school received valentines. No one was forgotten. Each student decorated a box with a slit cut into the top where valentines could be inserted. We each had our name on our box. Everyone was supposed to give a valentine to each student in our school. We usually had only 18-22 students in all eight grades. It wasn’t like today when there are hundreds of students in a school.
Our mother would buy a pack of valentines, usually the kind that were die-cut into shapes and printed on one side only. We would write on the back of each card to personalize it to the person receiving it. Usually we just wrote the name of the person and our name. If it was a close friend or a girl you liked, you might add an extra line or some silly poem or limerick. Some cards had a special verse and you would reserve them for a special girl or one you hoped would become special. I’ve said before that you needed a PhD in code deciphering to understand a valentine’s message. That included trying to read between the lines of the cards you received from the girls.
On Valentine’s Day we all exchanged our valentines, putting a card into each person’s decorated box. You could hardly wait to get home and go through them to see what kind of cards people had given you and what they had written on your cards.
“Valentines are stupid, valentines are dumb, so why should I get upset, if you don’t give me one?” “Roses are red, violets are purple, you’re as sweet as a pail of maple surple.”
Linda said that her grade school in Platteville did the same things we did. She went to the city grade school instead of a one-room country school like I did. She had more students in her class than we did in our entire school. They had 26 students in her grade. For seven of our eight years we only had two in my grade, Donna (Gilbertson) Kjelland and me. Linda’s school only exchanged cards with the kids in their class. There was no way they could exchange valentines with the entire school. It would have cost their parents a fortune and a decorated shoebox would never have held all the cards.
Linda always found it special, deciding which valentine to give to each person. You didn’t want to give just any old card to those classmates who were special friends, especially if it was a boy you liked. A lot more thought went into the selection of those cards.
In 4th grade, Linda liked a certain boy. On the back of the card she received from him, he had signed his name and had drawn little hearts all around it. Now that’s a card you don’t need to decipher. The message was very clear; he liked her enough to personalize it with hearts! She put that card in a drawer in her room and saved it for many years. Lucky for me, Linda and her young friend didn’t become a serious item in later years.
Valentine’s Day has become much more than just exchanging cards. It’s become a marketing bonanza for businesses. Gifts that some people think will put you in good standing with your sweetie are fresh flowers – mainly red roses (about a dozen should do it), chocolates that come in a heart-shaped box, and a romantic, candlelight dinner at her favorite restaurant. You could also throw in a teddy bear holding a red heart. I see a lot of them in stores this time of year. A nice bottle of her favorite perfume would also be appreciated. I understand jewelry has also become quite popular as a Valentine gift. Uff da, this Valentine tradition could set a guy back a few bucks compared to that simple card back in grade school.
If you just give your sweetie a card, she may wish she had a second chance at that young guy that drew hearts on her card in grade school. Actually, a handmade, hand-drawn card has much more sentimental value then any store-bought card created by Hallmark. On Valentine’s Day, Linda and I will have dinner at Old Towne, one of our favorite restaurants, right here in Westby. I might even give her a card and draw some hearts on it.
No matter what you give that special someone this year, don’t forget the card and add a personal touch, just like you did in grade school when you wanted to let someone know you liked them. The right card can be special. It can add a little more sunshine in someone’s life. Valentine’s Day reminds us that spring is just around the corner as each day gets longer, and the warmth from the added sunlight feels wonderful. It’s a great time of year.
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