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 Valentines

2/1/2014

19 Comments

 
Picture
Valentines were always a source of anxiety for me growing up. First, I had to talk my mom into buying the pre-printed Valentines depicting a non-embarrassing cartoon character. Heaven forefend I end up with Snoopy Valentines. Everybody knew only losers gave out Peanuts cards. It had to be Garfield or Strawberry Shortcake or the mean girls would giggle and whisper and run from me feel like I had cooties.

Even if I did get the proper cards, I had to sort through the 24 count set and throw out any that hinted at romantic love. Anything that said, “Be Mine” or “Hugs and Kisses” was definitely out. If the wrong person received a “Forever in my Heart” card from me, I could be sure that the mean girls would have the card-bearer and myself ‘sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g’ until the cows came home.

One year, after sorting through my Tweety Bird cards (seriously, Mom, were they out of Garfield or what?), I came up one short. I made sure the mean girls and my friends got the ‘good’ cards, but I needed one more card for a boy I'll call Ted. I didn’t feel right about leaving Ted out entirely, so I made him a card in the shape of a whale out of construction paper hearts. There was nothing romantic about a whale, but it was made of hearts so it counted as a Valentine. Problem solved.

A funny thing happened. Ted sought me out after the class Valentine party. He thought my whale Valentine was really cool. I explained that I had run out of my store-bought ones. This was my elementary school way of informing him that I was not in love with him. Of course, he never assumed I was. Romance is probably the farthest thing from an eight-year-old boy’s mind. He just thought it was clever, and thoughtful, unlike the store-bought cards everyone else passed out.

It stuck with me, all these years. I wonder what would have happened if I had spent less time and energy trying to impress the mean girls, and more time being creative, and thoughtful. I’m pretty sure the mean girls would have invented new ways to make my life miserable, but maybe it would have been worth it.


Thanks to J.A. Garland for inviting me to join her Love-Struck blog hop. The big blog-hop giveaway ran from Feb. 10- 14th. Congrats to Lori, the grand prize winner!

You can still enter to win a free e-book of Watcher from me (See Rafflecopter giveaway below)!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
19 Comments
J.A. Garland link
2/9/2014 11:36:43 am

Thanks so much for joining the blog hop, and thanks for such a great post! I could totally relate!

Reply
Rita Bay link
2/9/2014 10:38:44 pm

Great story, Ceci. Hadn't thought about that in years.

Reply
Audra Middleton link
2/10/2014 04:06:48 am

So glad you ladies stopped by! Good luck with the hop!

Reply
Jude Johnson link
2/10/2014 08:20:30 am

Well done, Audra!

Reply
Celia Breslin link
2/10/2014 09:30:57 am

That's such a sweet story, Audra. I wonder if "Ted" remembers that, too. :)

Reply
Wanda
2/10/2014 02:09:16 pm

This is probably hard to believe but growing up we didn't celebrate Halloween and I have never enjoyed costumes so have never dressed up in a costume.



Reply
JeanMP
2/10/2014 11:49:53 pm

Great story. Crazy costume I wore, a clown, the whole thing, from the hair right down to the shoes. Enjoying visiting all the blogs on this fun blog hop.

Reply
Lori H
2/11/2014 07:05:00 am

I really enjoy Halloween. One year I went as an old lady :)
Happy Valentines Day!

Reply
bn100
2/11/2014 03:11:29 pm

don't really dress-up

bn100candg at hotmail dot com

Reply
Audra Middleton link
2/12/2014 07:43:39 am

Yeah - I always enjoyed Halloween more than Valentine's Day as a kid. Hope everyone is enjoying the hop!

Reply
Jude Johnson link
2/12/2014 08:37:40 am

Wow, memories... I hated VDay. I made sure I got the ugliest cards like Batman or Popeye because I didn't want ANYONE getting the wrong impression! LOL Great post, Audra! Happy Hopping!

Reply
BookLady
2/12/2014 12:05:48 pm

One Halloween I dressed up as a rabbit. On the Love Struck Blog Hop I visited many new authors, including Holly Hunt and Ceci Giltenan. Thanks for the great giveaway. Happy Valentine's Day!

Reply
Debra Kay Neiman
2/12/2014 04:06:18 pm

I dressed up as a red dragon with a long tail once. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

Reply
Debra Kay Neiman
2/12/2014 04:08:47 pm

Dani Harper, Jude Johnson, Mimi Sebastian... I plan to visit them all. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

Reply
Bonn1511 link
2/13/2014 11:33:02 pm

One Halloween I wore my wedding dress and a skull mask. My ex dressed in his tux with a skull mask and we were Mr. & Mrs. Death.
We said marriage sucks the life out of you.

Reply
Cecilia Dominic link
2/14/2014 12:59:16 am

Awww, what a sweet story! I love the thought of the whale being totally not romantic, and good for him for expressing his appreciation.

It's been lovely hopping with you!

Reply
Audra Middleton link
2/15/2014 04:16:42 am

Thanks to all you Love-Struck blog hoppers for stopping by!

Reply
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NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Maths link
1/21/2021 11:15:43 am

One of the most lovable day in life

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    Audra Middleton is a somewhat neurotic and terminally sarcastic author and mother of three from Washington State.

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