V Day: When roses are dead, and Romance is too...
By Kara Ranck PC: Unsplash My mind wandered back this week to the days before I had a Valentine. My thoughts also turned to friends who are facing this holiday alone and some who are celebrating for the first time after many years of waiting. I haven't forgotten how challenging it was to face a holiday about romantic love when I had yet to share romantic love with another. It's not that I wanted to be in a relationship just so I'd have someone to celebrate the holiday with, but Valentine's highlighted what was missing in my life leading to feelings of sadness, hurt, and isolation. Then in 2011, I finally had a Valentine, and he was worth the wait. This week on our Valentine's date, we remarked how the holiday day has become less romantic over the last nine and a half years of our relationship. If we are looking for romantic love to become more outwardly extravagant with time, my guess is 99.9% of the time we'll reap disappointment. Why? The most important thing