The other day at Uni K Wax, we were all talking about our most memorable Valentine’s Day. Sure, one person said she got engaged ten years ago on Valentine’s Day, but wow, were we surprised! Hardly anyone’s most memorable day involved flowers, jewelry, chocolates, or engagement rings, for that matter. Everyone’s best memory had a few things in common, and this story from 40 years ago tells the tale.
When I was a senior in college, my four roommates and I were anxiously eyeing the calendar for the looming holiday known as Valentine’s Day. We all had boyfriends (or sort-of boyfriends) and were struggling over the perfect gifts to give. You know, the ones that said enough but not too much. (Don’t freak the guy out!) And we were also anticipating what our Valentines would give to us! As the day approached, innocent questions started flying around the apartment. “So where are you and Alan going for Valentine’s?”
“I’m not sure,” my roommate replied.
“Well, don’t worry… maybe he’s going to surprise you!”
Multiply this by five girls with questions going in both directions for two weeks. There must be an algebra formula to figure out how many times the topic came up. The bottom line: It was too many. As the day approached, not one of us had any plans. It seemed we were all going to be “surprised.” And that we were, but not in the way we thought.
I should point out that I lived with three of the most popular girls on my Big 10 university campus. They were cheerleaders and had throngs of admirers.
Some of that popularity rubbed off on me and my other roommate, the mere mortals of the group. But on that Valentine’s Day, it was as if our boyfriends declared each of us invisible. Not a call, no flowers, no surprise dinner out, and certainly no jewelry! What the F? So, there we sat, all five of us in our apartment at 7:00 pm, dateless on the date night of all date nights.
We all felt like pathetic chumps until the boldest among us finally said, “You know what, forget them! Let’s go out and have our own Valentine’s Day.” So, we all piled into my roommate’s VW bug and took off for the best milkshake place in town. We ordered our favorites and hung out, talking and laughing about how much more fun we were having than we would have with Alan or any of the others we planned to call “Valentines.” What a surprise!
We agreed this had been a fantastic night as we left the dairy. Better still, the next day, we returned our guy gifts and bought ourselves something we really wanted: a second gift, the first one being the feeling of power from the night before.
Want the Best Valentine’s Day Ever?
Make it a day to honor and love yourself.
Care for others and expect nothing in return.
Rely on yourself to make YOUR day, every day.
And…
Treat yourself and your friends to a Uni K Wax Party!
