I wanted to make my blog page pink, for Valentine’s Day, but somehow the pink just didn’t go with the photos of my boy, so I’ve made it blue. I wish I could get my blog to look as gorgeous as Wendy’s, but I’m just not that clever yet.
So, Valentine’s Day tomorrow. Most of us have our own traditions and ideas of how we’d like to spend the day with our nearest and dearest, traditionally, our significant other. For me, I don’t have one of them, so I like to think of Valentine’s Day as a day to celebrate the love of friends and family. Oh, I used to celebrate Valentine’s Day with Jacques when we were dating. We never spent lots money on expensive gifts, but we’d always do something nice, like go out for a meal or go see a movie. One Valentine’s day, I remember, we packed a picnic and went and sat up on the side of Signal Hill and watched the sun set and lights of Cape Town wake up. Of course that was back in the days when it was pretty safe to do things like that...
After we got married, Valentine’s Day fell during the thick of harvest time, so Jacques was always very tired and hard at work. My parents took to bringing a picnic up to the farm to share with me, just so I wouldn’t be sitting on my own. Jacques would invariably run in for 20 minutes to grab something to shove down his throat and then pass out. You must remember that during harvest time, there’s a period of about 6 weeks, where they’re lucky if they manage to get 2 or 3 hours sleep a night. And harvest lasts for about 3 months. I could hardly get a full sentence out of Jacques without him falling asleep mid-sentence. It was crazy – he used to fall asleep on the toilet, in the shower, anywhere he could!
Jacques and I were always of the opinion that we didn’t need to wait to celebrate our love on Valentine’s Day – we tried to make the best of each day (although we did still argue and drive one another nuts from time to time too). All that said, it’s still nice to have someone around to share Valentine’s Day with.
This year we'll do the same thing as last year - Jake & I will be going with my parents down to Camps Bay beach front for a picnic dinner. We’ll pack some wine (and definitely some chocolate!)and watch the sunset. Jake had a ball last year, so I'm sure we'll have a good time - I just hope the weather is as great as it is today!
So, some history on Valentine's day - I had to do a Google search to find out where Valentine’s Day originated and it seems that, although it’s named after St Valentine, a Roman, who was martyred for refusing to give up his faith, the history of the celebration is a bit murky and there are many different opinions and legends around the “holiday”.
In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday in honour of Juno, who was the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses. The Romans knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, the Feast of Lupercalia began. This pastoral festival was held to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility.
14 February was also a day on which “love lotteries” were held whereby eligible bachelors had to pick names of teenage girls out of a jar. Which ever girl’s name the bachelor drew, was to be that man’s lover for the remainder of the year (thank goodness times have changed!). Sometimes it worked out and they were married, other times they just drew a different namet he following year. Some Pope didn’t like the pagan idea of these love lotteries and instead of “selling off” the teenage girls, he put saints’ names into the jar and both men and women were allowed to draw a name. They were then to follow the behaviour of the saint they’d drawn for the remainder of the year. This lottery was named after St Valentine.
St Valentine apparently died on 14 February 269 AD. Legend has it that St Valentine fell in love with the jailer’s daughter whilst serving a jail sentence leading up to his death and that he sent her a farewell note shortly before his death, signed it “From your Valentine”.
Legend also has it that St Valentine served as a priest during the reign of Emperor Claudius II, who involved Rome in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Men did not want to leave their families or lovers to join his army, so Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, defying Claudius, secretly married couples. When Claudius heard, Valentine was condemned to be beaten to death with clubs and to be beheaded (harsh!!). This took place on 14 February. In 496AD the pope set 14 February aside in honour of St Valentine.
So, all that aside, however you chose to spend your day tomorrow, I hope you have a wonderful day – it’s sure to be better then the one St Valentine endured all those years back! I love you lots and lots!!
From your Valentine, Sue xxx
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