My Forever Valentine 我永远的情人节
　　The traditional holidays in our house when I was a child were spent timing elaborate meals around football
games. My father tried to make pleasant chitchat and eat as much as he could during halftime. At Christmas he found
time to have a cup or two of holiday cheer and do his holly-shaped bow tie. But he didn't truly shine until
Valentine's Day.
　　I don't know whether it was because work at the office slowed during February or because the football season
was over. But Valentine's Day was the time my father chose to show his love for the special people in his life.
Over the years I fondly thought of him as my " Valentine Man."
　　My first recollection of the magic he could bring to Valentine's Day came when I was six. For several days I
had been cutting out valentines for my classmates. Each of us was to decorate a " mailbox " and put it on our desk
for others to give us cards. That box and its contents ushered in a succession of bittersweet memories of my
entrance into a world of popularity contests marked by the number of cards received, the teasing about
boyfriends/girlfriends and the tender care I gave to the card from the cutest boy in class.
　　That morning at the breakfast table I found a card and a gift-wrapped package at my chair. The card was signed
" Love, Dad" , and the gift was a ring with a small piece of red glass to represent my birthstone, a ruby. There is
little difference between red glass and rubies to a child of six, and I remember wearing that ring with a pride
that all the cards in the world could not surpass.
　　As I grew older, the gifts gave way to heart-shaped boxes filled with my favorite chocolates and always
included a special card signed " Love, Dad" .In those years my " thank-yous" became more of a perfunctory
response.The cards seemed less important, and I took for granted the valentine that would always be there. Long
past the days of having a " mailbox" on my desk, I had placed my ho 阅读全文>>