We love hearing your life stories and want to hear more! This time we are looking for your Valentine story. Please try to keep your story to no more than 500 words. Upload your story in the comments section or email them to donna@recollections.biz. The contest runs through Tuesday, February 14 at midnight. Then, we’ll pick our three favorites. Each winner will receive a $40 gift certificate as a way of saying thanks for sharing your memories with us! Winners will be notified by email.
Here’s one to get you started.
Valentine’s Day with kids can be an adventure. My husband and I stopped going out to dinner on the holiday because the restaurants were so crowded. It was no fun trying to have an intimate dinner when you are elbow-to-elbow with the surrounding diners! So, early on we decided to make it a family holiday. It was not only less expensive and required no babysitters, the kids could get in on the holiday with their parents.
One year, they decided to make dinner and dessert for us. We did our best to stay out of their way, trusting that everything would be all right. We heard a lot of noise coming from the kitchen as the girls started on the project. Naturally, the older one was in charge. It’s a good thing they can work well together because suddenly we heard an ‘uh-oh’ and a ‘how do we fix this?’ We asked if everything was o.k. and were assured that all was fine in the kitchen and we weren’t to worry.
My husband and I retreated to the yard for a while, hoping for the best but preparing for takeout. Sure enough, after a while, the girls came to us and told us that they made a huge mistake in the recipe and didn’t know how to fix it. We went to take a look at what happened. The chicken looked good and smelled good but tasted awful! We tried not to look too aghast but it was really bad. All of the herbs and spices from the kitchen were on the counter. They admitted to trying a little bit of this and a little bit of that to try to make it better once they realized their mistake.
We all laughed and wondered if going to culinary school was in either of their futures. It’s a good thing we all like pizza!
– Donna Klein
Here’s our third winning story. It’s from Abigail F. and also arrived via email.
The Joke’s on Me
When I transferred from my community college to a university, I felt like a regular fish out of water. I’ll never forget the first day of class, because while I was standing in the hall, swallowed up in a sea of strangers, a boy turned around and looked at me and said hello. That was it. He rushed away to class, and I just stood there, still stammering out a reply.
From that point on, I saw him, every day. He would always say hi to me, and I began to look forward to his greeting more than anything else. I wondered who he was, because he always hurried away before I had a chance to speak further.
Finally, I worked up the gumption to ask his name. It was Matt. Now that I knew his name, we said more to each other than just a passing hello. We even became friends, and it wasn’t long before I was pretty much head-over-heels for him.
Valentine’s Day came, and I didn’t expect much more than a normal day filled with classes and homework. However, I got a little surprise when I was sitting at a computer in the library and Matt came in. He knelt next to me, and from his backpack he pulled out a beautiful, heart-shaped box of chocolates. I was completely overwhelmed.
After class that day, I went to have lunch, so I pulled out the chocolates. That was when I opened the box and saw it: three pieces of chocolate were missing.
I was shocked. What had happened? Was this some sort of joke? For a moment, I was furious. It dawned on me that he had made me the butt of a very cruel joke. Matt had taken the fact that I was crushing on him and used it to his advantage. He knew how much I liked him and how flattered I’d be that he thought of me on Valentine’s Day. Then, he pranked me with a half-eaten box of chocolates.
I didn’t stay mad for long, however, because I figured I could either let him get to me, or I could join the club and laugh at myself. So I did. I called him after classes and complimented him on a prank well-pulled.
But he was not laughing. “What prank?” he asked in a troubled voice. “The chocolates,” I began, my voice trailing off. “You gave me a half-eaten box of chocolates…?” He didn’t answer. In fact, he told me he had to go, and hung up the phone.
About twenty minutes later, he texted me and explained that he had bought two boxes of chocolates, one for his family to eat, and one for me. His younger brother had picked the wrong box, and had eaten the ones meant for me.
I’ll never forget that Valentine’s Day. Matt and I tried dating, but to be honest, I think he was never able to get over his embarrassment of the chocolate heart “prank.”
Here’s a winning story that came in by email from Kathy R. of Cripple Creek, CO. Congratulations, Kathy!
We teased my Dad about getting bigger valentines each year, and the last one almost three feet tall. But the meaning behind them also seemed to grow as they aged gracefully into their late eighties. Married during a furlough in the midst of WWII, my Dad warned his fiancee that he might not make it through OCS, and even if not, couldn’t support a wife, to which she replied, “you’d better, I’ve already had several bridal showers!” I asked her once how they could marry after knowing one another only a few months, and she said something like, ‘with the state of the world at war, and so many unknowns, if you wanted someone you had to take the step‘. That step lasted over 67 years, and for the last few years of their lives together my Dad started a tradition of composing a heartfelt poem, which was often shared publicly with friends and family. By then he was blind and couldn’t write, but it seemed to be literally written on his heart, as he never missed a line. It was often funny and sometimes rhymed, but always sincere and served as another milestone in their story. What a privilege to sort through those cards and letters later and know that yes, there can be a happily ever after…
Congratulations, Anna! You are one of our winners. Check your email for more information.
Thank you for sharing your memories with us!
Once upon a time, many years ago I had a calico cat named Cally. She was a sweetheart who loved to be held like a baby. She also enjoyed when I sang and especially when I danced with her. As I held her in my arms, one paw would be on my shoulder the other in my hand and we would do the waltz and tango. I’m sure if anyone ever saw us it would have looked very funny but it made her so happy.
One Valentine’s Day I was having a romantic evening with my boyfriend, John. We ended up in my bedroom under the sheets kissing. When all of a sudden Cally jumped on top of him and started to attack John. We popped out from under the sheets thinking maybe she wanted to play and telling her to stop. Cally on the other hand wouldn’t listen and continued to attack swiftly and vicious like an army maneuver. He was all scratched up and very mad by the time she was done. John gave me an ultimatum, “It’s me or the cat!” So I got rid of him and kept the cat but was annoyed. A week later I found out that John had been cheating on me while we were dating and I hadn’t known. It seems Cally on the other hand had used her sixth sense on John and attacked him to defend my honor.
A few years later Cally got ill and passed away. So every Valentine’s Day I think of her and smile. Love comes in many forms and we are lucky to appreciate it.
If you don’t have a funny story but want to share a Valentine memory with us, we’d love to hear whatever you’d like to share with us!