Yakety Yak
Packages of cupcakes, cookies from relatives create unexpected Valentine's Day delights

By Megan Hasche

Mirror Staff Writer
February 22, 2008

February 14…Valentine’s Day. A day of love.

Or just another day for those of us not romantically involved to feel bad about not having someone to go out to dinner with and buy us flowers and candy.

I woke up on this Valentine’s Day feeling a little depressed. Without a boyfriend to call my own, I thought that it would be just the same as any old ho-hum Thursday.

Despite my downcast spirit, I was determined to have a great day. At the very least, this is the one time of year that I am able to eat those little candy conversation hearts. Those are my favorite.

I decided to don a festive red sweater and heart socks. A smile on my face, I set out for the day, greeting each one of my friends with a cheery “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

After attending morning classes and being bogged down with enough homework to last me until next Valentine’s Day, I was feeling down and out.

Gone are the days when we would decorate shoeboxes with construction paper and glitter and spend the entire school day writing out valentines for each boy and girl in the class. Admit it, even though the opposite sex still had cooties back in elementary school, Valentine’s Day was one of the best days of the year.

As I approached my campus mailbox, planning out how all this homework was to be accomplished, I was pleasantly surprised with a pair of valentines from two of my friends.

First of all, receiving any sort of mail is exciting. But this was no ordinary advertisement from Domino’s or bill from the college. It was a valentine from a friend, complete with candy and heart stickers.

It made my day.

But that wasn’t all. An hour or so later, as I was heading up to the cafeteria for lunch, I was pleasantly surprised again with a package at the Commons’ desk.

My family really knows how to do holidays right.

I received an amazing assortment of baked goods from my parents and grandparents. We’re talking brownies, cookies, cupcakes. The whole works!

That night I went out to dinner and the opera with my mother. It was a lot of fun to have some mother-daughter bonding time, and there’s nothing better than dinner and theatre to get one’s mind off of not having a date on Valentine’s Day.

The more I think about it, not having a Mr. Right to share Valentine’s Day with is nothing to get worked up about.

Valentine’s Day is not about having a boyfriend to cuddle on the couch with. It’s a day to celebrate love in all its forms: the love of friends, of family and of tiny candy conversation hearts.