Love it or Hate it... Today is Valentine's Day

The first Valentine's Day that my husband and I spent as an official couple wasn't exactly memorable.  I assumed that every couple celebrated the holiday in some way, so I bought a cute little card, wrote a few words, and eagerly looked forward to giving the card to him.  When I proudly presented the card, he was perplexed as to why I would ever think of giving him even the smallest token on Valentine's Day.  While I had happily assumed that we would recognize the holiday, he had just as happily assumed we would not.

After that first Valentine's Day, I would dread the holiday almost as though I were a single girl.  As a female, opting to forgo Valentine's Day requires a lot of patience and thick skin.  According to the unwritten rules of the day, a man is supposed to dive out of his comfort zone and dream up some surprise for his partner that shows her how much he truly loves her.  Women are then supposed to 'ooh' and 'aah' and hold that memory in their hearts for the following year while their man returns to being... well, a man.  Over time, many women have turned the holiday into a competition.  A man's 'love' can only be measured by the degree to which his idea/efforts/depleted-bank-account has surpassed other mens' 'love.'  Therefore, a woman should expect to be asked about a zillion times what her significant other has done or has planned.  No one wants to hear something along the lines of, "Oh, he doesn't believe in celebrating Valentine's Day.  No, really... he's a good guy.  He just thinks that the holiday is too commercial.  You know... stores have made the holiday into a reason to successfully sell unecessary stuff." 

Bah humbug.

All of that being said, it is rather obvious why even the thought of February 14 makes me uncomfortable.  I hate the look of shock and confusion that gives way to pity on others' faces.  Yes, I would like for my significant other to do something romantic, but I can't change who he is.  Besides, I see how stressed out many guys become when trying to dream up something worthy of their lady's expectations.  I don't want to put my husband under duress just so I can brag about him to every woman in earshot on February 15.

And then my dear husband decided to mix things up a bit.

I assumed last year that we would again pretend February 14 was just like February 13.  I didn't plan anything at all - I didn't even bother to buy a card.  As I hovered between sleep and conciousness in the early morning, I heard my husband's cell phone ring.  I listened to his end of the conversation, and I began to realize something was wrong.  He yelled back the hall that I needed to get up and put some shoes on, pronto.  We live in a condo building, and the front desk had called let us know that a water leak had been discovered in the basement storage area.  We don't keep anything of value in our storage unit, but we do have moving boxes and some sundry items that we would rather not replace if at all possible.

I stumbled out of bed and found my shoes while picturing a foot of rising water destroying all of the boxes that I carefully hoarded over the past two years.  My husband impatiently waited for me and led the way to the basement.  I had expected to find maintenance workers and concerned residents hovering near the storage area, but all was calm and quiet.  My husband unlocked the door to the storage area and turned on the lights.  I thought it strange that the lights had been off in a flooded room, and I found it even more strange that the large expanse of floor in front of the doorway was completely dry.  I voiced my confusion, but my husband simply made his way to our seemingly dry storage unit.  As I sputtered, he unlocked the door and mentioned something about a leak against the back wall.  This made a small bit of sense, so I assumed he would promptly begin to move the large items on the floor that were blocking access to the back wall.  Imagine my surprise and frustration when he handed out two small shopping bags that had been perched on top of the heap.  He laughed as I slowly realized that the bags contained potted calla lillies, a card, and a box of chocolates.

It turns out that my wonderful husband concocted an elaborate plan to surprise me with traditional Valentine's Day presents.  He bought the presents on the 13th and dropped them off in the storage area for the night.  In the morning, he called his cell phone from our home line and had a premeditated conversation with himself.  He intentionally spoke loud enough for me to hear him, and he then acted impatient and anxious while he led me to my surprise.  I thoroughly underestimated both his thoughfulness and his acting abilities. 

I also realized that I assume way too much.

I hope that everyone has had a lovely Valentine's Day 2011, regardless of whether dinner or romance or chocolates or trinkets were involved.  If you did receive those things, hooray for you.  If you didn't, don't worry about it.  Your significant other just loves you more than he/she loves the retail sector of the economy.