Valentine’s Day brings up memories of twirping

I have always liked Valentine’s Day.

I guess I’m a romantic but I also think it is a day to be kind and thoughtful to the ones we really care about.

I know a cute story about my friend Gail, she said her hubby always gets in bed on her side and waits until she is ready for bed, then slides over. You see, he doesn’t want her to get into a cold bed, so he warms it up first.

Then there is a couple of friends who live in the city and have been married for some 40 years, and every evening after dinner he pours Esther a warm bath and lights a scented candle, just so she can relax before retiring at night.

I bet you remember Winnie Jones. She came all the way from Twillingate, Newfoundland to marry her husband, Valentine Jones. I bet he was born on Valentine’s Day.

In the 1960s, I attended Collingwood high school, that year we had a “TWIRP day ” – an acronym for The Woman Is Required to Pay.

The girls were given cutout paper hearts to pin to the guy they would like to take to the Valentine’s dance.

I tore out of my homeroom to find the man of my dreams. There he was, standing with his back to me in the hall. I tapped him on the shoulder and it was only when he turned around that I saw the name Patricia printed across the paper heart on his lapel.

He had been twirped already. I was devastated.

The good news is she became his Valentine for life, so be kind, and Happy Valentine’s Day to you.