Love Is IN the Air - Did You Think I'd Forget Valentine's Day?

I was saving the best for last.

Thirty-two years together and you still take my breath away. Happy Valentine’s Day, @MichelleObama! pic.twitter.com/wiIJ0kstRm

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 14, 2025

Those two crazy kids.

Sets your heart all a’ twitter doesn’t it?

Sadly, the Clintons didn’t pose for a picture this year. Pity, that.

But I sure remember this. It’s like watching a cheesy Hallmark movie while Some Enchanted Evening plays softly in the background…

Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff greet each other with… a kiss on the lips?

Is this… normal? pic.twitter.com/HX5p74fJHw

— Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips) February 8, 2023

Gack.

So how about a little Senator Kennedy?

Love is the answer—but you ought to own a handgun just in case.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Louisiana! pic.twitter.com/mvveYCjiNO

— John Neely Kennedy (@JohnKennedyLA) February 14, 2025

Sen Kennedy’s heartfelt wishes dovetail nicely with the meme our little brother Crusader put up on Facebook:

Okay, CALM DOWN.

Deep breath.

Sometimes you have to be a romantic realist.

Get her something expensive this Valentine’s Day pic.twitter.com/9ItVGO3shT

— Declaration of Memes (@LibertyCappy) February 14, 2025

You can’t always get what you want.

Happy Valentine’s Day pic.twitter.com/E1RrSxLif4

— GayPatriot (@GayPatriot) February 14, 2025

Live safe, live smart – MAHA loves you, too.

❤️ pic.twitter.com/pldMZ10qhV

— Being Libertarian (@beinlibertarian) February 14, 2025

I thought this one was great. Touched my heart and my wallet.

I would like to wish everyone, including all haters and losers (of which, sadly, there are many) a truly happy and enjoyable Valentine’s Day! pic.twitter.com/BwZJg5WJLM

— Matt Braynard (@MattBraynard) February 14, 2025

We *heart* you, too, Elon.

That’s almost as good as this one – this YUGE bouquet.

The biggest, most beautiful, most perfect bouquet ever…you know no one’s ever had a bouquet made like this in the whole world.

My BFF sent me this Valentine’s Day bouquet ❤️ pic.twitter.com/M6Pid8y8Ti

— Katy Grimes (@KATYSaccitizen) February 14, 2025

And, from The Man himself:

Happy Valentine’s Day ♥️ pic.twitter.com/6d7qmo7gtz

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 14, 2025

My sweet hubs is hitting the stove so I get to goof off once I get off this damn puter.

Years ago, I wrote a little essay on the origins of Valentine’s Day for the monthly newsletter of a china and table settings Facebook group I belong to. I learned some cool stuff doing it and I’ll share one of my favorite nuggets, since, in a round about way, it has to do with Agincourt.

Your beautiful Valentine’s table is just about ready to go. In your mind, the finishing touches are very nearly perfect: images of cooing doves, perhaps a Cupid or cherub, hearts of every description – sparkly and otherwise stand inside arrangements of beautiful flowers, crimson goblets contrast boldly with ethereal white lace, and the man who chose your name in the lottery to have as his Valentine for the next year is waiting to hear when dinner will be served. Wait…WHAT? Oh, yes, indeed. Once upon a Medieval Times, a lottery for affluent men to randomly choose their Valentine for the year was also part of the celebrations. I’ll tell you more in a bit. It might be fun to see where all the components that are now part of our beautiful table, and once-a-year celebratory day of romance evolved from, don’t you think?

…So your table is set, you have some interesting background on all the elements that could make up some of your romantic décor, but what was that thing about the lottery again? Ah. You thought I’d forget. I didn’t.

In the 15th-17th centuries, there was a lottery held on St. Valentine’s Day, where everyone got a “partner” for a year, married or not, usually not their spouse. It wasn’t at all in the romantic sense, but a courtly reenactment of the chivalrous knight pledging his service to a married lady. One of the maids in William Petre’s household won the lottery in 1537, and picked him as her Valentine for the year. He gave her a quarter’s extra wages for her gift. The custom continued for some centuries. For example, in Samuel Pepys 1661 diary entry, he and his wife are spending the day with their respective Valentines for the year. In a weird twist of fate, what has always been interpreted as the very first Valentine’s Day love letter – penned by the French Duc D’Orleans, sitting in the tower of London after losing the Battle of Agincourt to Henry V – has turned out not to be quite what they thought it was. It seems the Duke is telling his lottery “my sweet Valentine” beautifully, and very apologetically, that he’s too old and tired. He doesn’t wish to play Valentine’s this year.

History lesson over.

I sure hope you all had a great day and are gonna have the best weekend.