Happy Valentine's Day!

According to The Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Today is Valentine's Day, the feast day of St. Valentine, a priest and physician who was martyred about AD 270 in Rome, and the tradition of exchanging greetings of love on Valentine's Day is based on the legend that Valentine had signed a letter to his jailer's daughter, with whom he had fallen in love, “from your Valentine.””

We can't know for sure if Valentine actually sent that love letter, or even who he really was, because there were a number of early Christian martyrs who were linked with the name Valentine. Regardless, we know these were people of selfless, giving love, who never hurt anyone.

According to Wikipedia: "Many of the current legends that characterise Saint Valentine were invented in the fourteenth century in England, notably by Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle, when the feast day of February 14 first became associated with romantic love."

We have come to accept that hearts, roses and chocolates are absolute necessities to this holiday. We can probably think the Victorians for the first two, if not the Romans. We can assuredly thank Christopher Columbus and the American Indians for the third. However, none of those superficialities are truly important. What we need to keep in mind is the person who offers their love. Never miss any opportunity to show as well as to tell those who are precious to you how much you love them. That particular opportunity will never come again. Of course, a little chocolate never hurt either. :-)

Celebrate love all the year,

Frances
Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future