When I was little, Valentine’s Day was one of the best school days of the year. The day before, we would spend hours cutting out hearts and putting glitter on shoe boxes to put our valentine cards in. In the morning, I would get a stuffed animal from my parents.

At school, we had a party and got an unlawful amount of candy. Almost everyone was dressed in either red or pink. It was a holiday that I didn’t know the meaning of and, honestly, I didn’t care.

As I moved on to middle school, Valentine’s Day became less important. Teachers didn’t give us a free day to eat candy. Instead of celebrating the holiday, we learned about it. Saint Valentine was a martyr who… blah blah blah.

High school is a completely different story. Valentine’s Day is about being “in love.” It’s a day to celebrate being in a relationship and getting a teddy bear and some chocolate. It’s a lot of people’s anniversaries. Valentine’s Day is the day of love.

I have lived through 16 Valentine’s Days and have been single through them all. It’s never been something that really bothered me, but I’d be lying if I said I’ve never wondered what having a valentine would be like.

I’m not the kind of person who needs someone to make me happy. Yeah, at times like Valentine’s Day I would feel a little lonely, but I focused on other people in my life I loved–like my family and friends. I’ve pretty much had the same group of friends since elementary school and I figured that I would get a boyfriend whenever God wanted me to have one.

Now that I am in a relationship and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, it doesn’t seem to be as big of a deal. I think I’ve realized that even though Valentine’s Day is the day of love, it isn’t all about the boyfriend or the girlfriend kind of love.

It is a day to celebrate all of the relationships you have and be thankful that there is such a thing as love.