Valentine Secrets

and true confessions

Forget love—I’d rather fall in chocolate. - Anonymous

A version of this post originally appeared in February 2018.

Then

Forty-one Valentine’s Days ago, we slipped over to the local Justice of the Peace on our lunch hour and got married. Then we went back to work.

We were the only couple there. He was late because he stopped to buy me flowers. I wore white (try not to laugh). Actually it was a white suit with a pink blouse. I can count on one hand the times I have worn pink, and this was one of them.

Complete strangers served as our witnesses. You just can’t get any more romantic than that.

We had both been through the big production wedding ceremony experience before. That was the last thing either of us wanted. Since we were paying for the second go-round ourselves, we chose to spend our money on a fun reception and honeymoon instead.

It actually was pretty cool, because we kept it a secret from everyone. After we said “I do” and signed the paperwork, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to wipe the goofy grin off my face so people wouldn’t think I had a three martini lunch (hey, it was the 80s).

We finally told everyone, of course, but it was fun those few weeks prior to the event when only the two of us knew.

When people find out our anniversary is Valentine’s Day, they usually say they think it is a great idea, so romantic, etc. At least that’s what they say to my face. I imagine they are secretly thinking what a crazy idea, and how problematic it would be to plan a wedding for that day. Yes, if you were going to go big with a fancy church/location, white dress, seven course reception and so forth. But if you are just going to the JP on your lunch hour, no biggie.

They also think it is a bad idea to combine the two events into a single day and possibly reduce gifting opportunities, like having a birthday on December 25. But my husband is no slacker. He always gets me separate gifts and cards (unlike me, he is a card guy), one for Valentine’s and one for anniversary. It is problematic going out to celebrate, as restaurants are mobbed. But they would be mobbed anyway, whether it was our anniversary or not, so we just plan around it.

Now

Not sure how we are celebrating this year. It’s hard to top the romance of running off to get married at the JP on your lunch hour.

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I will leave you with three things:

• Have you discovered the Dubai chocolate food trend? They are outstanding! Here’s hoping you get some of these for Valentine’s Day.

  

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• The romantic tale of the American Olympic ice dancing team Chock and Bates (who are married to each other) just got a little steamier with the brouhaha over their silver medal last week.

• I’ve been re-watching A Discovery of Witches on Prime recently. I enjoyed the book. The series is very well done IMO, not the least of which is how well-crafted the romance is between Diana and Matthew.

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