Love, Storey: A Valentine’s Day Post

Earlier this week, Leslie Charles, Storey’s Marketing Art Director, put out the call to the office: What is your most memorable, or favorite, Valentine’s Day moment? Responses poured in and ran the gamut from sweet to sour to indifference. Some people were even brave enough to attach their names to their stories...We had to share, of course. Happy Valentine’s Day!

I unintentionally broke up with my boyfriend on Valentine’s Day. I was studying abroad and sent him a break-up letter, not thinking about when he would receive it. He excitedly plucked it out of the mailbox, thinking it was a valentine, only to find that it was just the opposite. Gulp.
—Carleen Madigan

Valentine’s Day dinner 2004 was spent in the hospital, with a wonderful meal brought to us by friends, celebrating the birth of our second daughter, Lily Madelyn. She was born two days earlier, on the 12th.
—Amy Pulver

Ray and I kind of forget about Valentine’s Day most years, so nothing really memorable there, but after more than 30 years, it seems to be working out okay.
—Lisa Hiley

Getting handmade paper hearts that my children made for me in school! Still have them, of course.
—Mary Velgos

Having recently broken up with her boyfriend, my daughter is planning to observe Valentine’s Day by eating pounds of discount candy while watching horror movies with her best friend.
—Anonymous

February 14, 1996: My date and I went to Nick’s Restaurant on Rockaway Beach in Pacifica, California. We had a miserable time, but love conquers all—even bad cover bands that spoil your evening. Three days later we eloped to Las Vegas and married at the Graceland Wedding Chapel with Elvis as our witness. We’ve enjoyed eighteen happy years of marriage. Pinch me.
—Alethea Morrison

My most memorable Valentine’s Day moment was showing up at my boyfriend’s apartment to find rose petals outside his door, which led me to my gift: a guitar!
—Adrienne Franceschi

When my family took the train across the country, leaving Rensselaer on a snowy Valentine’s Day, my 8-year-old daughter made a valentine for our conductor, Leroy, who had never received one in his life. He pinned it to his clipboard, and even called his mother.
—Deb Burns

I was once dumped on Valentine’s Day. And then it happened again the next year. By the same person. I no longer celebrate the day.
—Anonymous

A few years back I lost my wedding ring on Valentine’s Day. I found it a few stressful hours later.
—Leslie Charles

Last year I made heart-shaped homemade Oreos from Bouchon Bakery’s cookbook. They were seriously the best thing ever. Here’s the recipe so you can make your own.
—Alee Moncy

My most memorable Valentine’s Day was my youngest sister’s wedding, on February 14, 1988. She and her bridesmaids were into hair bands and they had the BIGGEST HAIR EVER! We called them the Bride and Bridesmaids of Frankenstein (but not to their faces, lol). The marriage did not survive because, as the song says, “Every rose has its thorn.”
—Ilona Sherat

When my parents were first married, my father bought my mother, who was a great baker, a set of heart-shaped foil pans. Every year, my mother would bake a heart cake for Valentine’s Day. As I got older, my mother would let me help her decorate the cake with sprinkles. After many years, the pans were in rough shape so my mother bought a new set. I still have those pans and every Valentine’s Day I make a heart-shaped cake for my family.
—Tricia Denault

Ryan and I had been dating for about a month. We both were working at the Old Forge that evening. As I was leaving he gave me a bouquet of flowers and a card. I drove home to my apartment that I shared with my friend Kate, and went to show her my card and flowers, and I couldn’t find the card. Realizing that I must have dropped it in the parking lot, and that Ryan would be the first to arrive in the morning, I did not want him to think I threw away the card he gave me. So, at about 1 a.m., Kate and I drove back to the Old Forge parking lot and found the card all muddy and wet. I held onto that card until about a year ago.
—Kristy Rustay

18 years ago I had planned to propose to Alethea on Valentine’s Day, but I couldn’t wait and proposed the day before. A couple days later we were in Vegas and Elvis was walking her down the aisle playing “Love Me Tender.”
—Mars Vilaubi

One of the Valentine’s Days I remember most fondly was back in the mid-’70s.  My home in upstate New York includes a large pond down the slope from the house. On beyond that to the west is Cayuga Lake, making for a fabulous view out of the kitchen window. My mother was a wonderful ice skater and used to regularly skate on the pond when the conditions were good. My late father was not a particularly good skater, nor much of a romantic, but very early one February 14, after an overnight snowfall, he snuck down to the pond and shoveled in the snow a gigantic heart with an arrow through it, so when Mom came down to the kitchen, his Valentine’s Day sentiment was waiting for her out the window.
—Caroline Burch

When I was in college (circa 1995) I was having a particularly hard Valentine’s Day. My “valentine” decided he liked someone else so I was a sad mess. My best friend hitched a ride down to Ames (one of the only shopping options in Canton, NY) and bought me a giant Whitman’s Sampler. She proudly gave it to me over beers in her room and when I opened it, about half of the chocolates had a bite taken out of them. She looked at me sheepishly and said she wanted to make sure they were good. We laughed and laughed. It turned out to be a great Valentine’s Day after all.
—Jessica Richard

In 2006, Ethan and I closed on our new house on Valentine’s Day. After the endless stack of papers were signed and we had the keys to our new home, we looked at each other and asked, “How are we going to top this one next year?”
—Jennie Smith

I gave my boyfriend a handmade paper heart that I had carefully stitched onto another piece that I’d written a message on. As we talked I watched him slowly pull the thread out to release the heart from its message. The end. No really. The end.....
—Anonymous

Artwork by Leslie Charles