Okay, let's see if we can get anything started on this forum. Do you have a story to share regarding Valentines' Day? It can be funny, romantic, silly, scary, life-altering, realistic, fantasy....get those minds working.
My story goes wayyyyyyyy back to when I was 6 years old and in first grade. My class was having its traditional class party to celebrate Valentines' Day and almost everyone shared sweet/sappy little cards with the accompanying sweet treats. It was a great day! (something to eat besides the thick paste we used for art projects!!!)
As first graders go, I was the shy, quiet type, and I was very concerned about what people thought about me. I wanted to be liked. [When you are in the middle of six kids in the family, and you are the quiet one, you do not get the attention you might like to get from your family members. (We can save that analysis for another time.] Unlike other students in my class, I quietly sat at my table eating candy and looking through all of my cards. One of them caught my eye since it was not the typical mini-card. This one was"full-sized" AND the large red heart on the front was covered in red "velvet". I thought it was the most beautiful card.
At the dinner table that night my parents engaged each of us about our day at school so we each had the chance to share. I told them about the class party and about my favorite card. When asked about who had given me the card, I told them it was from a girl named Maryanne Law. Boy did I regret sharing that....for the next ten years, my four brothers tormented me about my "girlfriend". (My sister mostly stayed out of it.) They got the name wrong, calling her Maryanne LAMB, so anything associated with sheep became a key to torture me or a nickname for me. The one that seemed to stick the most was "mutton". My brothers thought that was the funniest word, so it became my nickname. At first it was meant to mock me, and later it was just habit. (Nicknames to torture were common in my family. Everyone had one or more.) Even when we all grew up, the nickname was still used. "Hey, Mutton. Let's go play baseball." "Mutton, Mom wants to see you." When I came home from college..."Hey Mutton! Glad you're home. You look so much smarter."
I really hated my brothers when they mocked me, though it made me "tougher" too, I suppose. Now, with my brothers living far from me, I only think of them fondly, loving them for who they have become not for who they were. I have grown up too. Valentines' Day is different today than it was in 1st grade, but I still have very mixed feelings about the day.
I wonder how all of you feel about the day as well. Perhaps it is not even observed in your countries, but if it is, I would like to hear your stories as well.
(Let the psychoanalysis begin!)
My story goes wayyyyyyyy back to when I was 6 years old and in first grade. My class was having its traditional class party to celebrate Valentines' Day and almost everyone shared sweet/sappy little cards with the accompanying sweet treats. It was a great day! (something to eat besides the thick paste we used for art projects!!!)
As first graders go, I was the shy, quiet type, and I was very concerned about what people thought about me. I wanted to be liked. [When you are in the middle of six kids in the family, and you are the quiet one, you do not get the attention you might like to get from your family members. (We can save that analysis for another time.] Unlike other students in my class, I quietly sat at my table eating candy and looking through all of my cards. One of them caught my eye since it was not the typical mini-card. This one was"full-sized" AND the large red heart on the front was covered in red "velvet". I thought it was the most beautiful card.
At the dinner table that night my parents engaged each of us about our day at school so we each had the chance to share. I told them about the class party and about my favorite card. When asked about who had given me the card, I told them it was from a girl named Maryanne Law. Boy did I regret sharing that....for the next ten years, my four brothers tormented me about my "girlfriend". (My sister mostly stayed out of it.) They got the name wrong, calling her Maryanne LAMB, so anything associated with sheep became a key to torture me or a nickname for me. The one that seemed to stick the most was "mutton". My brothers thought that was the funniest word, so it became my nickname. At first it was meant to mock me, and later it was just habit. (Nicknames to torture were common in my family. Everyone had one or more.) Even when we all grew up, the nickname was still used. "Hey, Mutton. Let's go play baseball." "Mutton, Mom wants to see you." When I came home from college..."Hey Mutton! Glad you're home. You look so much smarter."
I really hated my brothers when they mocked me, though it made me "tougher" too, I suppose. Now, with my brothers living far from me, I only think of them fondly, loving them for who they have become not for who they were. I have grown up too. Valentines' Day is different today than it was in 1st grade, but I still have very mixed feelings about the day.
I wonder how all of you feel about the day as well. Perhaps it is not even observed in your countries, but if it is, I would like to hear your stories as well.
(Let the psychoanalysis begin!)
