Celebrating Valentine’s Day and gift of a hug

Accept it. Whether or not you like it, Valentine’s Day will be here bright and early this coming Wednesday,

Feb. 14. There is absolutely no other day that is celebrated with so much gooey love expressions than Valentine’s Day.

Everything from white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate morsels beautifully packaged in heart-shaped boxes will be given to express love on this day. If you don’t care for the traditional chocolates, there are many other choices for you such as: chocolate-covered strawberries, cherries, apricots or bananas dipped in chocolate. You get the picture.

I come from a long line of huggers. It does my heart good to give out hugs as I go through my day. People and animals who cross my path on any given day will most likely receive a hug from me. It’s my nature. One of my friends signs her emails with, “Hugs.” I like that. As I see it, you can’t possibly be mad if you’re embraced in a genuine hug. A hug is really nothing more than a circle, or at least an embrace that is intended to be a circle. Sometimes girth gets in the way of giving or receiving a fullcircle hug. It really doesn’t matter; it’s the thought that counts.

Several years ago it was reported that two 5,000-year-old skeletons were discovered locked in an embrace. I would guess that breaks an alltime record for the length of a hug. Since the discovery was made in the area where Romeo and Juliet lived it is believed the skeletons belong to the famous couple.

Traditionally, the X’s on correspondence are used in lieu of a signature for people who cannot or are unable to affix their signature to a document. A Jewish friend of mine tells me the Jewish people opted to use the O in lieu of the X to avoid making the cross mark, and the O represents the circle of life as a never-ending line.

Since Feb.14 is the traditional day of love, I imagine lots of X’s and O’s will be given. You can never go wrong with the O’s. Go ahead and hug someone — lots of someones. It will make them wonder what you’re up to. I recall a story told about a young man who gave his sweetheart a skimpy nightie for Valentine’s Day. To his chagrin, she opened the gift in front of her parents. Embarrassed, he said to them: “It’s not the present; it’s the thought that counts.” He should have just given her a hug!

If you plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a night out, just be careful if you wander into an establishment with flashing neon X’s on its marquee. My guess is you’ll see a lot more than kisses or hugs.

There are many who think Valentine’s Day is totally unnecessary. Perhaps they’re right.

The commercializing of love is abhorrent. If one celebrates their love on a daily basis why should they celebrate this one day? There are many schools of thought on this, but for me I guess I’m just old-fashioned enough to believe love should be celebrated on a daily basis and receive special recognition every Feb. 14th.

Whatever you believe, whomever you love, however you choose to celebrate, have a Happy Valentine’s Day. And, hug the one you love!