Forget the Candy and Flowers

I don't know why people spend so much time thinking about valentine gifts. The traditional gift of flowers say "let's contemplate beauty, then watch it fade & rot", candy says "go ahead, add a few more pounds to your chunky butt, no one will notice", while jewelry fairly screams "I've been a baaad boy".

If you ever deviate from the traditional gifts and think of something completely unique, you will then be in a position of having to top yourself every subsequent year. It will be expected. The only way you will be able to get out from under that onus is to end the relationship.

I guess you can tell I'm not into token mass-produced gifts. To me, on valentine's day, the nicest thing to give or receive is a personal note expressing your feelings about someone. While that may seem like a cheap date, it's not as easy as it sounds. Real true feelings are difficult to express in a meaningful way, especially when it comes to something as complicated as love.

It was The Beatles who burst into my pre-teen world igniting feelings of love beyond the usual family & friends variety. I was lucky to have my world first rocked by them because they proved to be so prolific & trend-setting that to this day, almost every Beatle song brings back specific memories of places and times in my life. I believe this type of early & continuing influence lays solid groundwork for other long-lasting relationships. Their songs form an on-going mosaic of life.

I saw an interview of Paul and George some years ago, well after everyone had gone their separate ways, maturing into their own life pursuits. The interviewer asked them if, with all the problems in the world today, they could still believe that all you need is love. Paul immediately jumped in & got caught up in trying to apply a realistic view of the many aspects of life that were just as important as love. When he faltered in his re-definition of love, George, who had been quiet up til then, softly said, "That's what I said then, I believed it then, and I'm sticking to it now. Love really is all you need." You can probably tell George was my favorite Beatle.

So, with that in mind, here's my all-time favorite valentine .....
"All You Need is Love", the Yellow Submarine version:


And here's a heart-favorite of D.K. & E.K., partners in this thing called life for 32-years and counting,"Here, There and Everywhere":


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY !!!!!