When I was a kid I’ll never forget when my mom took us to the store so we could pick out Valentines for all the members of our class. My sisters always had something in mind like Barbie or Snow White but my brother and I had to have something that wasn’t quite so “girlish”. We’d look for action hero Valentines or maybe something from our favorite cartoons. We had a tough time back in those days saying words like “Be Mine” or “I Love you.” I loved the Superman ones that read “Flying high for you, Valentine.” “It’s a crime if you’re not mine”, or “I like you more than Lois” (okay I made that one up).

Then there’s the little candy hearts with the messages on them. “Be Mine” or “I Love you” or “Kiss Me”. I never did like the taste of those. I hear they’ve been updated. “Text me”, ”Email Me” , or “Let’s Chat”. I guess they still taste awful. But that’s only an opinion.

I was horrible in art class too. Every year in grade school it was always a project in class to make a valentine’s box. So we’d bring a shoe box from home, wrap it in white paper, and then grab the pink and red construction paper and cut out hearts to paste on the box. I could cut out hearts pretty good (or is it well). Some kids were artistic geniuses. Some could draw a decent looking cupid, bow and arrow and all. Of course, last but not least you had to cut a hole in the box for all your classmates to stuff their valentine in for you.

Now came the time to open the box. After all that hard work, I had to rip that beautiful piece of art work open (insert laugh here) and start reading. You’d lick those envelopes and they’d never stick so most flaps were tucked in. You’d find those awful tasting hearts in there but once in a while there would be a stick of “Juicy Fruit” gum. That was pretty cool.

I also made sure to read all the cards to see if I could find anyone who didn’t pass one out to me. I once found one that had something like “I Love You, Valentine” on it. I kind of looked at my female classmate with embarrassment. She told me, “It was the last one in my box and mom didn’t want to buy more, so you got it.” Do you think that was kind of a blow to the ego?

But now, people are telling me that some schools in the country don’t allow treats in school for Valentine’s day anymore. I’m not sure around the Fargo Moorhead area. I can see in stores that Valentines and holiday candy are coming off the shelves. So it’s nice this holiday is still observed, just as long as nobody decides to dress like Cupid at your party.