Valentine's Day the way it used to be.

Don't you remember making Valentines in school?  We made mail boxes out of shoe boxes and delivered little cards to each one as if we were sending some kind of secret messages in the selections of cards we were delivering to each classmate.  I loved to make them.  I loved the smell of the paste and the feeling of the doilies that were snipped into heart shapes.  I loved that my step-mother loved to bake for Valentine's Day and make powdered sugar designs by sifting sugar through a doily.  I loved the holiday because it was a time when you could openly express your love for everyone without it being scoffed at, including my step-mother.  Also, growing up in Maine, it was a wonderful bright spot in what used to be (and has become again) very long, cold, snowy winters. 

Tomorrow I will make Valentine's Day cards with my grandsons.  As holidays have amped up from card days to present days, we are taking this year to dial it back a notch or two.  Cards, candle-lit dinners at home and handmade gifts will be the order of the day tomorrow, along with a lot of gratitude for those who we have around us to whom we can express our true love.

Happy Valentine's Day!  May you also express your love in stitches!

Sue Ann Taylor