From the editor

I think a lot of us have got the wrong end of the stick when it comes to romance, which we will all be forcibly celebrating on Thursday with Valentine’s Day.

We find the idea of ‘‘love at first sight’’ romantic. We hope to experience an electric moment with an attractive stranger who ticks all of our boxes and more.

But I’ve come to realise that’s a lot of baloney. If you ask couples who have found happiness together about how they first met, their stories are often quite disappointing.

It’s a lot of ‘‘I fancied his/her friend’’ or ‘‘he/she seemed a bit stuck-up’’ or ‘‘I had a partner at the time’’ or (puke me a river) ‘‘we met at a work function’’.

Getting together can be remarkably awkward, full of cringey dialogue, out-of-character behaviours, and desperately unsubtle manoeuvring. The real romance comes much later, when you suddenly realise you care more about their wellbeing than your own.

I wanted to test this pet theory, and to find out whether the way we meet is changing. (And, for the benefit of anyone who’s reluctantly single, to gather potentially useful intel about how people meet.) Have a read of Cecile Meier’s lovely interviews (page 8).

On a personal note, this is my last issue as editor of Your Weekend. Yes, dear reader, I am breaking up with you – and not even in person! I’m off to seek my fame and fortune outside the world of journalism, but Eleanor Black, who is fantastic, will keep you company from next week.

Stick-on peonies

Real roses are all very well, but a decal on the wall will bloom forever (or at least until you change your mind and swap it for a waterfall or a Dr Seuss character). Page 19.