By Bre Nichols
Reporter
Each year I feel like Valentine’s Day becomes less about showing your love and appreciation for loved ones and more about showing how deep your wallet is.
My grandmother always says, “Cupid’s arrow flew right past the heart and struck the pocketbook.”
Showing your love and appreciation for someone shouldn’t be about the amount of money you spend on a gift. If that were the case, would we judge how much someone loves us by how many roses we get?
Relationships are difficult enough without having the added pressure of living up to a romantic ideal on a designated day.
While no one ever complained about going out to a nice dinner or being showered with gifts, I think most people would be just as flattered with something simple and from the heart.
The best valentine’s gift I ever received came directly from the butcher. You can only imagine my confusion when I opened up a paper-wrapped packet of something cold and hard to find myself holding a lump of raw beef. Little did I know that night I would be eating a Philly cheesesteak, my favorite meal homemade by my boyfriend.
Sometimes it’s the simple things that make me smile and have the most meaning.
A professor of mine recently told me, “When I get really desperate for a valentine’s present I write a poem. It’s better than any amount of roses I could get my wife and it makes her melt like chocolate in my hand.”
Dallas senior Christina Mastor said she “couldn’t agree more” with my professor.
It’s easy to drive up to the store to buy a box of chocolates and flowers. Girls don’t always expect guys to go all out, but things mean so much more when it’s evident that someone put thought into what they’re doing.
Mastor recently talked with her boyfriend about their Valentine’s Day plans. “I told him that I’d rather him write me a really nice heartfelt card or do something sentimental and tell me how much he appreciates me than go and buy me anything. That would mean more to me than getting me something nice,” Mastor said.
A gesture of kindness that takes time is more meaningful than a store-bought item. Find out what your valentine enjoys and see how you can incorporate it into your plans to make him or her happy. Taking the time to think about it can really make a difference and show just how much you care.
My grandmother quotes an old saying: “Make someone happy and you will be happy too.” Love and appreciation shouldn’t just be showcased on Valentine’s Day but should be a part of our everyday life.
Let the lesson be learned. Love doesn’t have a price tag.
Bre Nichols is a senior journalism major from Dallas and is a reporter for the Lariat.