Do you also think Valentine’s Day is an overrated festivity? Oooobviously, the first thing on people’s mind – since they don’t stand a chance ignoring this phenomenon – Valentine being everywhere right when the cheerfulness of the New Year starts to fade.
However, I have very happy memories to last year’s Valentine’s Day. This was one for the books really, as I had a blind date (with my partner being present) and I got a lovely surprise from my secret lover.
A Delivery For Fleur
In the early afternoon I was expecting a visitor, someone I had not met before. Ever. We knew each other through an online knitting community and meeting on February 14 was only a coincidence.
The doorbell rang and, after opening the door, a lady asked if my name was Fleur. I nodded and quietly mentioned the name of my fellow knitter. This would be my online friend, I guessed. But before I knew it, she handed me a cardboard bag with flowers and happily informed me to enjoy my Valentine’s bouquet.
It was a Valentine’s bouquet, alright: bright red tulips in between lovely green leaves and with heart-shaped decorations. But sent by whom? Surely not my partner, who usually ridicules Valentine’s Day commercialism more than I do and who was at home that day. According to the card the sender was SL, an abbreviation I immediately recognized for Secret Lover.
As If It Was My Birthday
Here I need to explain something that happened when flowers were delivered on another occasion, my birthday. I was lucky enough to receive three bouquets (oh, the commercialism of birthdays, I love it!), but one came without a card. The other two were from my mother and Jonatan’s parents, so the third was supposedly from my friend that I have known for almost twenty five years. When she confirmed this, she declared herself to be my Secret Lover.
The doorbell rang again and still being perplexed from what happened ten minutes before, I peeked my head out. Carefully I said the name of my fellow knitter again and indeed, this time it was her. We had a good laugh about the incident with the flowers, that I had put (cardboard bag and all) on the table. It was very nice meeting her and not just because she also brought me a bag. In this case filled with three skeins of yarn and several knitting and paper goodies. What a day! What a happy day, that was!
Today, similar to most of my Valentine’s Days, it will be a quiet one. Jonatan is out working and I have no guests planned. The artificial pressure to buy something for your loved one will go unnoticed by me. I am perfectly alright with this. Such a day full of happy surprises like last year should be just that: completely unexpected.
If you enjoyed this story, you might want to read The Guilty Knitter or Embracing My Embarrassment.
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This post is also available in: Dutch
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