St. Valentine's Day: A Holiday for Honoring Lovers

St. Valentine's Day - Time for romance and gifts for loved ones ..... Chocolates, greeting cards, flowers, jewelry, lingerie or something more exciting...

It's Valentine's Day when the calendar marks February 14^th. When I was a young schoolboy I would save my pennies and nickels and buy for my favorite gal Becky a Valentine's card and receive a token kiss on the cheek to show her gratitude, but alas and alack she hitched with Fred Doherty before the War. Today in my elder years my beautiful wife Tala of many happy years is presented with my token of love not only on Valentine's Day but also always.

It was not only I that that showed a written note of affection on Valentine's Day. On that day love notes went back and forth between lovers since the 19^th century; now they have given way to mass produced greeting cards with modern day symbols of the winged Cupid, heart-shaped outlines, etc.. According to statistics over one billion greeting cards are sent each year on that holiday with women the main purchasers. Today E-mail is slowly encroaching on that market.

Budding Lotharios sent a heart shaped box of filled chocolate bonbons, elegantly wrapped and designed decoratively to their ladylove - grandpa even remembered that day and to grandmother, the love of life, and he expressed his love through the years on that holiday. Chocolate, especially those filled bonbons of creams, caramel, jellies, etc. has been linked with the release of serotonin in the brain, which is thought to enhance the feeling of pleasure.

Off course, another gift that is in order of that day was typically a bunch or red roses. The rose is universally understood to represent love. The red rose remains the most popular flower in the United States; so a bunch of red roses on Valentine's Day given by a Romeo to his sweetheart will show his token of love. And a single perfect red rose couple together with Baby Breath Flower is considered to be a 'Signature Rose' by florists and considered to be the most sought after flower on Valentine's Day.