Pages

February 13, 2014

The Best Day of the Year


By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine


As we prepare for Valentine’s Day we think of what our loved one would like most. Traditionally we give candy and flowers. 47% of us give candy. 73% percent of men send flowers and 14% of women send themselves flowers.  Then there are the 36% of us go to dinner.

One of our most popular ways of sharing is with a card. We purchase over a billion cards worldwide. 53% of those are bought by women. From our earliest Valentine’s Days spent in Kindergarten or Grammar School we gave and received cards expressing our love. This probably is our earliest memory of the tradition and it may also be what established it in our minds and later in our hearts.

Over the years I have read some amazing cards. I can only guess how one could gather together in a short space such passion and emotion. It always appeared to me someone spent time putting together words that were exactly what I would say if I had the talent to do so. Each year Hallmark puts out 10,000 new or redesigned cards. Someone had to put those beautiful, funny, passionate, emotional words on paper. My hat is off to those writers. They make what many of us feel would be an impossible task of writing beautiful prose and presenting it to our special Valentine easy for us all. 

Maybe we should send them a card?

Despite the commercialization the $13 billion pumped into our economy it is a very special day for many of us. We have a great opportunity to tell that special someone how we feel. Though some of us do so every day, the shyest among us or those who want to come forward with a new relationship can use this day to do so. After all it is tradition and expected.

We must be sure on this special day to give our gifts and share with our loved one our feelings we have for them. Apparently gifts play a bigger part than we may think. 53% of women said they would end their relationship if they didn’t receive anything for Valentine’s Day.


Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Write on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Happy Valentine’s Day!

No comments:

Post a Comment