Revis' Ramblings: Don't forget your sweetheart

We are just nine days away from Valentine’s Day. It is a day set aside to show your love with cards, candy, flowers, jewelry, trips, dinners or a hundred other gifts. I have always heard it is not the gift but the thought that counts.That is true but I really don’t think toasters or vacuum cleaners make good Valentine Day gifts. It might work if the appliances come with flowers or a box of candy.

As I looked up facts about Valentine’s day, there were several interpretations on the origin of the day going back to A.D. 270. I chose to just focus on the latest ones starting in the 17th Century when hand-written notes or cards were sent out on Feb. 14. The first heart-shaped box of candy came along in 1861. I bet it would be impossible to tally up how many heart-shaped boxes of candy have been created and sold in the last 164 years.

I have not priced candy this year, but I did see a special about candy making recently. The major candy makers are having to pay more for the ingredients so I would expect the boxes of candy to be a little more this year. According to the information the price of chocolate skyrocketed in 2024 due to supply chain disruptions and weather conditions. Chocolate reached an all time high last April with the price tripling from January to June. Candy remains the most popular item sold for Valentine’s Day gifts.

Another gift we see distributed on Valentine’s Day is roses. Nearly 250 million roses are grown and shipped into the U.S. each year to meet the demand of the day. Roses are special any time of the year. It is one of my favorite flowers.

Consumers spent an estimated $25.8 billion on Valentine’s Day in 2024. The average amount per person spent on significant others and family members last year totaled $139.92 each. That was up 16 cents per person from 2023.

It is estimated that 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged (that does not include the kids’ exchange in classrooms).

It has been many years since I was in elementary school and my kids have been out of school for many years but I suppose kids still get to carry on the tradition and celebrate Valentine’s Day with their classmates. I remember we made heart-shaped holders out of constructruction paper in art class to hang up across the room. We gave each member of the class a valentine as well as the teacher. We took our heart-shaped holder filled with valentines home and reread every one of them several times.

I know candy makers and flower growers will keep the Valentine’s Day tradition alive and well as long as possible. It is good for the economy.

I always knew I would get a box of candy and a card for Valentine’s Day. I think the first box of candy my husband gave me was in 1965, a couple years before we married. We married in 1967 and were married 52 years. Every Valentine’s Day, I received a heart-shaped box of chocolates every year except the February when he was in Vietnam. That year he sent me a bottle of perfume. I have to give him credit. He never ignored Valentine’s Day.

That is a lot of chocolate over more than a half century. I have missed that candy tradition for the last five years. I know I could go out and buy myself a box of candy, but it does not hold the same meaning.

I do think forgetting Valentine’s Day would be right up there with forgetting a birthday or an anniversary. It is not wise.