valentine this year

ahhhh....you know you're old when..........


.................it doesn't matter if your other half does nothing for valentine's day. in fact you tell him why bother. you don't like the idea of wasting a king's ransom on something that will wilt within a day or two, nor do you fancy another piece of expensive jewellery. it's not like you will wear it around town, shoving it into people's faces. you will not even bother to go out for a romantic dinner if it was not for the fact that valentine's day this year fell on the same day as chap goh mei. seeing other couples with heart-shaped balloons and roses does not bring your down and you are not the least bit envious. if anything, you are happy that young love exists and feel good on their behalf.

but that does not mean that i do not believe in valentine. it may be a day when things are over-priced and everything is commercialised but it is and should be a day when you are reminded to rejoice your love for one another. valentine day doesn't have to be about hundreds of dollars worth of roses, thousand dollars worth of jewelleries or romantic candle night dinners. it can be a slow stroll near your house. it can be home  cooked meals, it can be two glasses of wine over some slow songs. what represents valentine is the love and the effort which remind the special someone that he or she is still the most important person in your life. that is all the a woman wants, really. to be loved. if you love someone, every day can be a valentine, not only february 14th: some men will say. true, but unfortunately those who say that are those who do not celebrate their love any other day either. if not on february 14th, normally not on other days either.

i am a hopeless romantic at heart. always was, always am and always will be. but i no longer require my other half to be pained in trying to live up to that. i am grateful that i have him, that we have this life and love together, and whatever i do not have, i think of it as exchange for so much that i already have.