Oh my goodness, it's Valentine's Day. Hi, I'm Michael Gross and this is The Daily Grateful. Well, where did it all start? When did Valentine's Day become a thing?
Well, long ago and far away, there was this thing that was going on in Rome. There was St. Valentine, or rather, several Valentines. The church actually recognized several martyrs bearing that name around February 14th.
While details remain kind of obscure, legends intertwined with stories and acts of love and defiance and solidifying the connection of romance, one persistent, tale kind of sticks with us. By the Middle Ages, the embers of courtly love and its emphasis on chivalry and emotional expression fanned the flames of Valentine's Day. Yep, people were celebrating it way back then. And then in the 20th century, something strange kind of happened.
Yeah, something very, very strange kind of happened. Valentine's Day entered into a chapter of commercialization. Okay, marketing messages from the verse of, you know, love or platonic caring, and of course the romantic, you know, the kissy face, huggy bod type thing. This shift fueled debates about the authenticity, some lamenting the loss of the genuine sentiment amidst the glitter of gifts and exchanges.
I'm reading this if you don't know, but I'm kind of reading it. I'm just kind of going around it. Today, Valentine's Day exists for one thing and one thing only in my humble opinion. Yes, it is to tell your loved one that you love them.
It is to tell your honey pumpkin lover poo your heart's delight that you are just enthralled with them. Yeah, that's what it is. You are enthralled with them and you want them to be your Valentine. What does that even mean?
You want to be a dead martyr? Oh, no. I want you to be my honey pumpkin lover poo. I want to express my pure love.
That's what it is. And it also means that you're going to spend gazillions of dollars where you have this week. Yesterday, my son, Zach, and I were driving about 45 miles away and we're driving through Tampa, Florida. And we saw all kinds of people setting up stands on the side of the road selling flowers and selling little stuffed animals and selling little stuffed hearts and all this stuff.
It was a big commercial event for them, even though it was cold. So even though this is what it's about now, money, Valentine's, did you get one in the mail? Did someone send you a Valentine in the mail? When I was dating my last girlfriend, which has been a while since I had a girlfriend, her name is Debbie.
And I used to, every year on Valentine's Day, you know, there's the old thing of sending out a row and sending roses. Not me. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is a free plug for Steven Singer.
There's a website called I Hate Steven Singer. And he's a jeweler up in Philadelphia. And he sells these roses. They're real roses that are dipped in gold and colored gold.
And they come out and they're just fabulous. Every year he comes out with a new color and a new, and they're fabulous. So every Valentine's Day, I would order, they're about 70 bucks. I would order one of these from Steven Singer.
And I would have it shipped here. Well, initially, I had it shipped directly to her. I lived in, you know, West Florida and she lived in Palm Beach. So I just had it shipped directly to her.
Well, she didn't like that because it didn't arrive on Valentine's Day. And if it doesn't arrive on Valentine's Day, which is February 14th, I really didn't mean it. 70 bucks and I went through all the trouble doing this. Anyway, so then wanting to be the good boyfriend that I was, I would have it shipped to me.
And then I would ship to her knowing that it was going to arrive on Valentine's Day. And I'd have it shipped right to her office. And she'd open it up and, oh, you know, happy, happy, happy, joy, joy. And this went on for six years until we broke up.
And I remember one time it arrived a day early. And she got all mad at me for it. I remember this. I remember this distinctly.
So this is what Valentine's Day was to me. So last time I celebrated, after her and I broke up, that was it. Although I really did love the roses. I really, really, really did love the roses.
And she has since, by the way, passed away. And I've often wondered what her daughter did with all those roses because she kept them in a vase. But she also kept all of the original boxes that they came in. And I'm just going to bet when we broke up that she put all of them in the individual boxes.
So I always wondered what she did with them, but who knows. But Valentine's Day has gone to that. And you're not remembering the true meaning fueled by ancient Romans, by the stories of martyrs shaped by centuries of evolving traditions. It's a day speaking history reminding us that love in its many forms has a special place in our hearts and in our societies.
I hope you're in love with someone. I'm in love with a bunch of people. I have five kids. I have better than that.
I have five grandchildren that I'm totally in love with. So to all of you who love someone, and to all of you who hope someone loves you, trust me, there are people out there that love you. Even if you're a curmudgeon, there are people who love you. Happy Valentine's Day.
Have a good one. Happy Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day.
Thank you.