My earliest memory of this annual event on the calendar is from the second grade. One of our school habits was to buy a pack of assorted, cheap Valentine’s Day cards with about 4 or 5 different styles and messages, and ‘send one’ to everyone in the class (some of you from my generation reading this might smile at a similar memory). It was a pretty big deal.

However, it was marked by my first, major written communication goof-up: I signed every one of them, “Form Freddy.”

Little did I know, fast-forwarding to that illustrious day ahead on the calendar, in the year of our Lord 1980, I would ask Bekah Bentley to be my lifetime wife. Silly me; I had another major goof-up: I didn’t know that a reservation was required in a nice restaurant in Tulsa on February 14. I had never done that before! I was from small-town Alabama. We just showed up when hunger pains struck or when we all had a night out on the town. I guess I thought I would just saunter in at a place my friend had recommended for such a romantic and glorious occasion and be directed to a table for two, complete with candle light and a well-dressed waiter. No such luck! (A glowing mistake, sort of like misspelling the word “from”.)

We ended up in the wonderful (did I say ‘basic’?!) pancake house, Village Inn, on S. Yale Ave. There were plenty of booths open that night at the breakfast restaurant. Thankfully, she said yes (to the pancake house, and to the proposal!), and yes, we are still together, after a marriage later that same year. And I still smile every time I drive by the Village Inn.

I never knew or thought to ask about the origin of St. Valentine’s Day. Here’s a short note on why we celebrate this day on February 14, from Christian History magazine:

“According to tradition, Valentine, a priest in Rome during the reign of Claudius II, was beheaded on February 14 in the year 270. One explanation for Valentine’s subsequent relationship to the romantic holiday is this: Claudius was seeking more soldiers for his army, so he tried to remove family ties by forbidding marriage. Valentine ignored the order of the emperor and performed secret marriages. That act of defiance led to his arrest and execution.”

Fair to say, I don’t remember associating this date with execution. It wasn’t part of the background information framing a marriage proposal, or of buying those packs of thirty cards! But I am very thankful that we have this day as a marker of love and relationship.

Wherever you are, I hope you can enjoy the day.

Signed,

“Form Freddy.”