Another Valentine’s Day came and went and I MADE IT.

It’s kind of a running joke that I rarely actually celebrate Valentine’s Day and instead acknowledge that February 14 is Ferris Wheel Day instead. I’ve been doing this since freshman year in college when I first learned about it.

But it’s not that I’m bitter about the day. I’m happy for all my friends who are in relationships and are able to be with someone they love. I don’t personally see that day as “Singles Awareness Day” either which I think is a pretty dumb idea to be honest. Because I’m fully aware every day that I’m single and I’m not going to let one day make it more so than normal. “Oh gosh no one gave me a bunch of flowers and chocolates so that I could post about it on Facebook and make everyone jealous.”

Valentine’s Day back in school was kinda meh. I mean you bought the store bought ones with the cartoon characters to pass out to people. The cool kids passed out the really popular trendy valentines and you didn’t want to be the kid passing out the lame generic ones. And if you had a crush on someone, you always made sure to send them the nicest valentine as you hope they get the message that you liked them. Our elementary school had mailboxes set up where you could send valentines to people in other classes. In fourth grade, I sent one to a 5th grade guy that I liked. Nothing ever came of it but I knew he had gotten it. It was more of a “I need to let you know how I feel and then I can move on” type of moment for me back then. I highly doubt he even remembers it.

Valentine’s Day in high school was mostly meh. You could buy roses from SCA to send to your sig other or you could sign the True Love Waits pledge. Girls would walk around with their flowers and teddy bears. My senior year of high school I was the president of our Christian club and I decided to do something with all the dues we had been collecting through the years. We had quite a ton of money that had just been sitting there. It was decided that we would buy carnations and then give them out for free. Students could order flowers in advance, choose a message to attach to the flower, and then we’d deliver them throughout the school for no charge. We accepted donations so we could give to the local food bank but other wise this was our way of showing love to the student body. One hiccup, we were told by the principal that we weren’t allowed to put Bible verses on the messages and instead use inspirational saying. We just wrote out the verses without putting their scripture reference on them (SNEAKY). It was a big success and actually one of the best things I ever did in high school. It was a great feeling to give to others and expecting nothing in return. People kept asking why were doing it for free and what the catch was because they couldn’t believe it. Granted carnations aren’t as nice as the roses the SCA was selling but everyone really seemed to enjoy them. I did send a carnation to a guy I was sort of interested in and he rewarded me with a dance at prom but that went nowhere and again I highly doubt he remembers all that.

This year again, I wanted do give back and not just sit around and mope all day on Valentine’s Day. So I offered to babysit for my friends so they could have a night out. I didn’t want money or anything. It wasn’t as if I was going to get a date on Valentine’s Day night at the last minute because this is the reaction you’ll get:

It was a good idea. My friends had a great night out and I had an excellent time with their adorable baby. I mean seriously I had the cutest date for Valentine’s Day. Also The Avengers was on TV that night too so I got to spend it with Hawkeye.

Maybe because I’m getting older and life has happened a lot but the past few years aren’t as bad as they used to be. This is not to say that I don’t want to spend a Valentine’s Day with someone because….well…. I do. And I also want to spend the whole year with them as well. So I’m hoping the year will come when I can. Until then: