Valentine’s Day by Daniel Rosenthal

The widely cherished by the loved and in love while extremely disapproved of by the heart broken, lonely, and some might even say, heartless Valentine’s Day feels too close for comfort. I, however, have as much anticipation as skepticism this year. It isn’t every year I am dating someone around this time. Heck, it isn’t every year I am dating someone period. I am going do what I do with every holiday, think about all the things I want to happen and then convince myself that none of it will. In other words, I am lowering my expectations so I don’t drive myself crazy trying to out do anyone or even myself.
When I was in high school I wanted to show the girl I was with how much I really liked her. I got my friends together, made a band, and learned “That Thing You Do,” from the movie of the same title. We set up in the auditorium, with monitors, and closed the curtain. To get people in the band I told them to invite their girlfriends to the concert of one song for one person (which ended up being about 8 girls by the time the band was together.) Not everyone in the band had a girlfriend so I told the guys to invite someone they liked because this would grease the wheels. We all wrote letters to A) tells the girls right off that we liked them and B) to get these loves to meet us at the theatre entrance. Ushers met the girls so we could be revealed when the curtain opened. In the front row were flowers for each of them. I also bought a balloon, which in the end wasn’t cared for. The great drape opened, we smiled, and I counted off, 1, 2, 3, 4. When it all over a teacher, Leland Burbank, jumped out of the seats and clapped yelling, “where’s the camera? You had to of video taped this. This was great,” and he went on. He had to have been the most excited. I can’t say the girls didn’t care. They did. My ex-girlfriend once told me that her next boyfriend didn’t do anything for her on Valentines Day and she told him, “This is ridiculous. Someone put a concert on for me before. Step it up a notch,” she laughed.
The point is none of us ended up happily ever after so why go to all the effort as side from it feels go to make someone happy. Even if they will take your heart out and throw it away later (I don’t feel like that but maybe some people do).
I’m just saying to be cool boy, real cool. It is just another holiday. In fact they also came up with Sweetest Day, so you can mess that one up too.
Good Luck. Remember we’re all in this together.