I actually don't have a lot of Valentine's Day stories because for the longest time (my first twenty years or so, & many of the years since), I didn't have the slightest chance of getting a girl to be my valentine, & when I was finally (against all odds) dating someone, I was generally with women who didn't need or want flowers, candies, jewelry, etc. - the hallmarks of the day. I might have given one or two valentines to the woman who is now my wife - but I doubt she'd even notice if I never mentioned that tomorrow was Valentine's Day to her.
But. I do have one dumb story. It took place in high school. I bought some cheap not-even-Russell-Stover boxes of chocolate at a drugstore & gave them to some girls I was fond of in my AP History class. This was in twelfth grade, Valentine's Day 1986. I know I gave one to a girl named Laura, who was probably the first girl I really fell in love with, & also to a girl named Carrie, who sat next to me, but I can't remember if there was anyone else in class. I might have given one or two to a teacher I liked - but my favorite teacher was the male history teacher, & he might not have reacted well to me buying him candy.
In my senior year of high school, I would get to school early - before 7:30 - when it was easy to park & when I could go sit in the halls (hall monitors came on duty to watch the doors at 7:30) & read or study rather than hang out with a growing crowd of students waiting for the eight o'clock bell to ring & stumble miserably into first period. At the time, one other person would wait in the halls with me: a girl named Terri, who, at some point, decided she didn't want to be my friend anymore (that's another story). We used to chat & stuff before school started, but for a month or two we just sat silently in the halls, next to the drinking fountains (& therefore not in the view of the hall monitors), waiting for school to begin.
That day, I meant to give one of the heart-shaped boxes of candy to Terri. I didn't know if I thought being thoughtful would repair our friendship (we reconciled over the course of a couple of weeks in the spring, although we didn't stay friends after high school) - I couldn't possibly have been that clever - I think I just thought, I like Terri, we're friends, I'm giving candy to girls (& possibly male teachers) today, I'll give her one.
I gave it to her. She took it & said, "Thank you." & continued ignoring me. I went back to reading or doing homework or whatever. After a couple of minutes, she gave the candy back to me & said, "I can't take it! It's a farce!" She was crying. She went to the restroom & didn't return that morning.
(I had to look up "farce" in the dictionary later that day.)
We never spoke about it - I never brought it up - & I think I was baffled I could affect anyone in any way when I was that young & dumb. The story has a funny postscript, though.
I was left with an extra box of candy & even I knew how lonely it would be to eat a box of valentine chocolate I had bought for myself, so when I got home, I gave it to my mother. She was extremely happy & she almost cried herself. That, too, was baffling to me - it was a lesson no one had taught me, least of all her - & maybe that's what moved her so: her son was being thoughtful! Maybe she also noticed that she & I weren't as close as we had been. In any event, wow. She was so happy. That was crazy.
To this day, though, I'm probably not all that thoughtful. Some lessons can be learned only barely.
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