Valentine's Day...

Since I was a small girl, I have looked forward to Valentine's Day like some kids look forward to Christmas. (My birthday also follows shortly thereafter). For many VDs (an unfortunate abbreviation I will admit), I had no special valentine or had poor-to-awful ones. A miserable VD can be really depressing. Freshly, un-valentined in 1997, together with my friend Lily (herself a widow of many years)we decided to have a Valentine's Day brunch for those who had lost their valentines. We picked a very romantic lovely Victorian setting for the Sunday before VD. She and I called all of the friends we could think of who were without a valentine. Twenty-six people showed up all "dolled up" as my grandmother used to say.

There were widows and one widower (my friend Peter, our only guy), divorcees, never marrieds and two people who just plain had crummy valentines and wanted to have a lovely VD. Everyone got a rose and some chocolates. I had ordered a really gooey cake, lots of those big icing roses, and we sat it in the middle of the main table and just dug into it with our spoons. Champagne flowed. It got to be really fun. A string quartet was playing and we requested songs like "New York, New York" and formed a chorus line. Several "outside" people asked to join our party. We grabbed the wait staff and danced with them. Peter was in great demand as a dance partner and was really cheered up as his wife and my dear friend had died just a few months before. It was great to see him laugh and have a good time. We stipulated no sad songs and no music from anyone's wedding. We had an informal contest to see who had had the funniest looking valentine and I won with the child psychiatrist who looked like a Muppet ( he cut his own hair). It was a lot like a wedding reception except, when you left, you were unencumbered (with a big hunk of cake) and did not have all those thank-you notes to write. Also, much less costly.

Brunch times was over but the owner let us stay and she and some of the help joined our party. They seemed glad to have someone to share their VD with. We kicked our shoes off. They brought us a lot of coffee. The next year we had only six attendees (weather was bad) but it was just as rowdy and fun, although there was no dancing. The number of people varied over the years. When I moved no one took it over. They were the best parties I ever "threw". They got a lot of friends over some bad times.

So, if you have a valentine and know someone who does not, send them a card or call and wish a happy VD. Or send yourself a card! Go to the Sweet Shop and buy yourself a decadent bob-bon. It will make your day.