February has always been a very special month for me. Valentine’s Day is one reason, but the main reason is my birthday is in February.
   I love receiving flowers and chocolates for Valentine’s and even little stuffed animals. My birthday usually comes with a pretty piece of jewelry, dinner and flowers. Yes I am spoiled and I really enjoy it.
   This year my hubby really surprised me with a gift that I had never had before. After being together 29 years that has to be hard to accomplished. My present was a darling little black puppy. I have had a lot of dogs but never a puppy of my very own. She is a little eleven week, coal black Toy Pomeranian a.k.a. Toy German Spitz. I fell in love with her the minute I took her in my arms, what a little sweetheart. Gary had bought her a little shirt, too.
   This has been a birthday and Valentine’s I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

   February has long been a month of romance. February is a time to show your love with special gifts for your loved ones. All over the world you can find St.Valentine legends and celebrations.
   In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. Here in the U.S.A. candy, flowers, jewelry and gifts are exchanged between loved ones. No matter what store you shop in you will find shelves full of pink and red colors of hearts made in to candy, or boxes of chocolates, teddy bears holding heart balloons.
   St. Valentines is the day to tell your loved one they are special. If you would rather give something other than candy you can buy flowers and jewelry which may even be better for the occasion.
   HINT: If you sweetheart is dieting don’t give her a big heart-shaped box of chocolates, you could end up in the dog house. Stick with flowers or a cute little bear.
Let’s take a look at who this mysterious saint is and why do we celebrate this holiday?
    St. Valentine’s Day contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.
   One legend tells of a priest named Valentine who served during the third century in Rome. During this time Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men to improve his soldiers. Valentine ignored the decree and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.
   Claudius ordered Valentine put to death when his actions were discovered. Thus making him a Saint for going against Claudius.
   Another legend tells the story that Valentine was the person that sent the first ‘Valentine’ greeting. It is told while he was in prison he fell in love with a young girl, who often visited him in prison. It is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed "From your Valentine" an expression that is still in use today. It is believed that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D.
   The Christian Church may have decided to celebrate Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to "Christianize" celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day around 498 A.D.
   By the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France. In France and England where it was believed that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which started the idea that the middle of February would be called "Valentine’s Day" and should be a day for romance.
   The oldest known Valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.
   In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. People exchanged hand-written notes.
At the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made Valentines in the early 1700s.
   In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced Valentine’s postcards in America. Howland is known as the Mother of the Valentine, he made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".
   Facts from American Greetings cards:
Valentine’s Day is the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. Over 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas each year, with Valentine’s right behind with an estimated one billion cards sent each year.
   Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all Valentine’s.