A Day of Love For Everyone

Hey Raven!

It's Thursday and I've just worked a double shift. You know what that means? It means I'm really tired and having trouble seeing the words I'm typing because the screen is all... floopy (shut up spell check - it's totally a word, okay?)

I apologize in advance if this post makes less sense than usual, but I'm going to try to power through to write something coherent. However, I don't really want to write about anything I am super passionate about tonight because I'd like to give those posts more attention and brainpower than I currently have at my disposal.

Today I thought I would share my day with all you. The first 6 or so hours of it consisted of standing on my feet a lot and looking over a lot of awesome LEGO (guess what my first job is - I dare you). The second part of my day was considerably more fun and consisted of playing lots of nostalgia board games like Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land (which they changed since I was child and now makes me a bit angry*), and Connect Four (not technically a board game, I am aware).

Then I got home found a ton of Valentines taped to the bedroom wall courtesy of a very sappy Raven, which basically made my whole day. Then I talked with my roommate about our impending board games night. It's a weekly tradition that our house hosts a board games night with a bunch of friends, games, food, and drink. This week we weren't sure about hosting it because... Valentine's Day. But as Raven is out of town, Crow doesn't have a partner, and most of our other friends don't celebrate, don't have a significant other or have a significant other who lives out of town we decided to throw board games night anyways.

It got me thinking about Valentine's Day in general and how to celebrate in particular. I love celebrating with Raven and we have a tradition of doing something really sappy and sweet every year because basically we're really gross and stuff**, but I started thinking how appropriate it was to celebrate a day that has come to be all about love*** with some people I love in a totally non-romantic way.

We put a lot of emphasis on the romantic partnership and the importance of that relationship. Many people still see partnering off as a natural almost unavoidable end for them. But despite that view more and more people choose to remain single, unmarried, or at least uncommitted all the time and I think it's time we, as a culture, started honoring that choice and showing it as a norm. I am not someone who could live their life without a steady, long-term, romantic partner (or maybe I just couldn't live it without Raven), but on this Valentine's Day away from her I am going to take some time to think about all the other people I love who I couldn't get along in life without. My family and my friends.

I know and remember how hard Valentine's Day can be without a significant other to celebrate with, but we all have someone we love and regardless of your coupled or uncoupled state I urge everyone reading this post to take a moment on Valentine's Day to tell those people that you appreciate them and are happy they are in your life. The word love doesn't even have to come up! I think that is a way to celebrate the day that everyone can get behind and enjoy. I have long believed that love is always worth celebrating and although I have never needed a day marked on a calendar to give me the excuse to celebrate it, I think we could all use the reminder at least once a year that we aren't alone in our life. And that is a great thing.

So Raven I hope you have a tolerable time getting poked and prodded by doctors tomorrow. I will be keeping you in my thoughts (as I always do). You should still expect a super sappy Valentine's something from me on V-Day! I can't wait to hear from you tomorrow and I will see you on Sunday.

Love,
Owl




*Seriously! Queen Frostine isn't a queen anymore. She's princess. Seriously, Hasbro?!
**Except for the first year when I was a goof and didn't do anything and Raven was super sweet.
***I know originally it was the day a saint (or possibly two saints) with a name resembling Valentine was/were canonized, but let's face it Hallmark has taken it over and it is now more reliably about love (specifically romantic love).