Valentine’s Day: It’s not for the faint of heart
For a holiday that has very little (if anything) to do with religion, politics or history, Valentine’s Day sure does divide people.
On one hand, you’ve got the lovers who can’t wait to celebrate (translation: brag about) their soulmate/best friend/life partner (mostly by blabbing all about it on social media) and the hopelessly romantic singles who just know their meet-cute moment is right around the corner. On the other hand, there are the cynics who can’t help but roll their eyes while proclaiming Valentine’s Day a “fake holiday” and the only love being celebrating is corporate America’s love of money.
Valentine’s Day is a lot like love itself: romantic, stressful, confusing, disappointing and full of surprises. Just take it from these folks.
*Some names have been changed to protect the innocent, the guilty and the just plain rude.
Literally Lovesick
A self-described sucker for romance, K.C. Rogers was thrilled to be going out for Valentine’s Day at Taverna since it’s where she and her boyfriend, Jason, went on their first date. As the holiday got closer, however, she said Jason started “acting weird.” When he called the morning of Feb. 14 to cancel their dinner plans because he was sick, she could tell something was really wrong. “He knew it was my favorite day of the year. Plus, he never gets sick,” she said. “I started thinking about how he had been acting so distant the previous week, and it all made sense: He wanted to break up.”
Rogers was so distraught she had to leave work and spent the day sobbing and trying to figure out what went wrong. That night, Jason called and asked if they could go to lunch to talk. Her stomach dropped, but she figured she might as well get it over with. At lunch he apologized for canceling their dinner plans at the last minute and acting weird in general … then he got down on one knee and proposed, something he had been so stressed out about doing on Valentine’s Day, he literally made himself sick. All’s well that ends well, though, since they’re getting married this fall.
Return to Sender
Long-time Riverside resident Kevin Roberts had his “first real crush” in seventh grade. The object of his affection was a girl in another class. Let’s call her Kelly Reynolds. “I went to bed each night just praying that she would pay attention to me,” he said. As Feb. 14 approached, Roberts remembers going to the local drug store and buying “the biggest, frilliest Valentine’s Day card I could find.”
On the big day, Roberts asked a mutual friend if she would deliver the card to Kelly on his behalf. “Only minutes later, the friend returned, with my card still in her hand and simply said, ‘She doesn’t want it.’” he said. “It hadn’t even been opened.”
And he hasn’t given anyone a Valentine’s Day card since. (I’m not crying. You are.)
Accidently Perfect
One thing that wasn’t news at “The Florida Times-Union” for two decades was Robin Hughes, who worked in advertising, carrying a torch for columnist Charlie Patton. The office gossip finally found its way to Charlie, and on Valentine’s Day 2001, he called Robin to ask her out on a first date. “I was beyond thrilled!” she recalled. “I had such a big crush on him, and for him to call me ON Valentine’s meant he was thinking about me.” According to Robin, the date was a huge success and she was “very smitten.”
One night at a party, Robin was sharing the story of how she and Charlie met and absolutely gushing about how romantic it was for him to call her for the first time on Valentine’s Day. Charlie, who was standing next to her listening to the story looked right at her and said, “I didn’t have a clue it was Valentine’s Day.”
Charlie and Robin Patton will celebrate their 21st wedding anniversary in May.
The Ghost of Friendship Past
It was an unspoken rule with Kelsey Mitchell* and her friends: the ones who didn’t have dates on Valentine’s Day would all go out together. Two years ago, it was only Mitchell and her friend Jonathan* who didn’t have dates. When they were making plans, she jokingly said, “This isn’t a real date, right?” Jonathan responded by saying that going on a date with her would be like dating his sister. Cut to Feb. 14 which they spent at a decidedly unromantic pool hall. Jonathan got extremely drunk, took Mitchell’s hand and confessed he was in love with her at which point she freaked out and excused herself to the bathroom. When she returned a few minutes later, Jonathan apologized for making her feel uncomfortable and offered to take her home. “After that night, he totally ghosted me, and we never spoke again,” she said. “I was so confused and hurt and disappointed. Still am. It’s like he broke my heart and we never even dated.”
Movin’ on up!
“I was dating this guy Gary* who traveled a lot for work and was going to be out of town on Valentine’s Day,” said San Marco resident Staci Miller. “I told him it was no big deal since I think it’s a stupid holiday anyway.” She planned to spend the night at home alone until a freshly-single friend begged her to meet her out for one drink. Against her better judgement, she agreed.
Within minutes the friend started talking to a guy at the bar, so Staci took the opportunity to visit the restroom. On her way back to the bar, she spotted Gary, who was not only in Jacksonville but on a date … on Valentine’s Day … with another woman. “I couldn’t believe it! I was shocked to see him — and her — obviously, not to mention very confused and pissed off!” she said. She made eye contact with him but decided to keep walking like nothing happened.” Just then a guy tapped her on the shoulder. “He said hello and asked me, ‘Do you have a name? … Or can I call you mine?’” Staci recalled. Despite it being the “worst pick-up line in the entire world,” she couldn’t help but laugh. She and Jason spent the rest of the night chatting, dated for six months and got married last year, and she invited Gary to the wedding since he’s the reason she even met Jason. The jerk didn’t even RSVP.
By Kerry Speckman
Resident Community News
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