Creative Commons
As a child, when Valentine’s Day came around, my father would buy me a huge box of chocolates. He brought me jasmine flowers and would write me a little letter.  

As a family, we would enjoy each other’s company by going to see a movie and then going to a restaurant. I thought this was normal because my father would always buy my mother and I flowers and would occasionally bring home treats for my brother and me.

But my father never said, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” I didn’t even know it was a holiday until I began going to school.

It wasn’t until I got a little older I understood the typical American perspective of “Valentine’s Day.” It has become so commercialized and so far gone from its intended purpose that it has become one of the most hated holidays.

Although you should love your significant other or friends every day, Valentine’s Day is just a holiday like Nurses Day or Earth Day. It is just a day of recognition and appreciation. We should all appreciate the hard work and dedication of our nurses, and we should all appreciate the Earth every single day. Yet we still have an entire day dedicated to celebrating those.

We live such busy lives and have so many people from work or from school that demand so much energy out of us that sometimes we lose sight of the people and things that matter. It is nice to take a moment and dedicate an entire day to your loved one.

It does not mean that this is the only day in which you are supposed to go above and beyond to show your affection because you should be doing that every day.  

But Valentine’s Day does mean that you should take a moment and show the person you care for that you really do appreciate them, whether this person is a parent, a boss, a friend or a teacher.

This holiday is one of my favorites. I enjoy spending time with my loved ones and I enjoy expressing my gratitude to all my friends and family.

I take a moment in my day to send texts or emails to my family that I don’t see as often as my immediate family. I never end my text with “Happy Valentine’s Day,” but I do thank them for all the good they have done in my life and I express just how much they mean to me.

I hope others can do the same this Valentine’s Day, and every day.