Valentine’s Day is so widely celebrated around the globe amongst lovers, friends and family, but how many of us actually know the story behind this special day? *smile* I came across this rather interesting piece at www.pictureframes.co.ukm, “depicted” from the eyes of St. Valentine himself. Hehe. Read on…

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn’t like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn’t the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn’t going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies — secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

picture from http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0209/valentine.php

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, “Love from your Valentine.”

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh — because they know that love can’t be beaten!

Despite spending the evening romancing my laptop over a room service meal, I reckon it was a great that I finally had the chance to spend quality time with myself, something I have not been able to do in a long long time. *smile*

And although I do agree with some people on the fact that every day should be treated as Valentine’s Day, it is also great to acknowledge that special occasions like these help remind us of the significance of the people most important to us – family, friends, spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, mentors, etc. *smile* Hence, there’s no such thing as a discrimination of this special day to lovers specifically, which I reckon you would agree with me! *laugh*

Oh and did you know that:

• Worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine’s Day each year.
  Conclusion – Diversfy into a flower selling business 2 days a year.
• In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week.
  Thank God the tradition didn’t last till to date, otherwise God forbid we draw our bosses names at the office!!! *laugh*
• The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine’s Day.
  Wah, I didn’t know there was such thing as Juliet fan mail box!
• If an individual thinks of five or six names considered to be suitable marriage partners and twists the stem of an apple while the names are being recited, then it is believed the eventual spouse will be the one whose name was recited at the moment the stem broke.
  I wonder what would happen if my list of 6 were George Clooney, Josh Hartnett, Eric Winter, Richard Gere, Josh Hartnett and Josh Hartnett, who do you think I’d end up marrying? *laugh*

Happy V-day guys! Hope you had a blast. Mwah!!!!!! xxx