Last week, the little girl and boy in front of me at the checkout counter were clutching packages of Valentine cards. I had to wonder if the same events would be taking place this week in their classrooms that we had at Langley Central school many, many years ago.
At some point during art class, before Valentine’s Day, we would make some sort of large envelope to capture all our expected cards. The project began with cutting, pasting and folding construction paper, then decorating the outside with hearts or some sort of designs.
The finished envelope would either hang from our desk or maybe the class would put them all up along the wall together. The most important feature was to display our names in big print, making it easy for the others to find.
One night at home, we would spread the Valentines out on the kitchen table. With scissors and glue and a sharp pencil at hand, we would begin the task of selecting the proper card for the right classmate.
The teacher was the easiest. There was always a card that said something clever like “To my Teacher,” so that was an easy one. You made sure to print your name in big letters, as there was always the urban legend that if your teacher didn’t get a Valentine from you, you might not pass that year. No sense taking any chances.
You had to be careful when selecting the cards. Some might have the right picture for a certain classmate, but the wording would be wrong and you didn’t want to send a wrong message to a girl or get thumped by a boy. But after some sorting, it began to work out. First the guys — Bob, Terry, Glenn, Gary, Joe, David, and Richard. Then the girls — Cynthia, Susan, Gail, Grace, Rebecca, Linda, or Joan. All of them were pretty easy names to spell.
But then came the most delicate situation of this task. Picking out the Valentine for “Her.” A crush on a girl in Grade 4 is a very serious thing indeed. You can’t let any of your male friends know you like this girl, because they will ridicule you mercilessly and worse yet, maybe tell her. You certainly can’t tell her because what if she doesn’t feel the same way about you. Then you would have to ask your parents to move to another town.
So you fuss over the picture. You don’t want her thinking you are making fun of her. You stress over the verse. It can’t be too personal to give you away but it should say more than you said to the other girls.
Once the decision is made, then comes the printing of her name. It must be letter perfect and you write it as if you are engraving on the crown jewels. Surely she will notice the difference in your writing from the clumsy scrawl of the other boys.
On the big day, you carefully open your envelope to see if she left one for you. You read the message, look at the picture and the writing to see if she has left a clue for you. After you are pretty sure she did, you keep her Valentine separate from the rest.
Take some time, send a special message to your Valentine this year. Pretend she’s the girl who sits three rows over and two seats down. At least that’s what McGregor says.
