Thursday, February 15, 2007


I remember Valentine's Days in elementary school...

We'd spend the week preceding Valentine's Day making little mailboxes to put on our desk. Then on the big day, everyone would walk around and drop Valentine's into all the mailboxes. It was expected that you'd just give a card to everybody, but I always had a hard time dropping a Valentine into Walter P.'s mail box. I really didn't like him. Near the end of the day, there'd be a little party where we could open our mail boxes and read all our Valentines.

Every year, from Grade 1 until Grade 5, my mother would make heart-shaped sugar cookies. She'd spread the hearts with pink frosting, then with white frosting she'd write the name of everyone in my class (AND my sister's class) on their own special cookie. Each heart would get a white piped edging of icing, and maybe a sprinkle of pink sugar. They were beautiful, true works of art.

On Valentine's Day, my sister and I would carefully carry our own Tupperware container onto the school bus, guarding it with our lives. "What do you have?" "Is there one with my name on it?" "Those look so good, can I have one?" As soon as we got to school, we'd give the container to our teacher, and she could guard it until the right time. I remember feeling very proud as the teacher would announce each year, "Paula's mother has prepared us a special treat!" and then she'd call up each person by name to get their very own cookie. It used to bother me, though, that Walter P. got a pretty cookie...I didn't think he deserved one at all.

Is that what they mean when they say "It rains on the just and the unjust"? Even the unworthy get pretty cookies? I guess that's good. I've been unworthy of most of the blessings in my life, too, if you come right down to it.

8 comments:

Christopher Newton said...

"Even the unworthy get cookies." I think that's what the French call a bon mot.

Spoke said...

As I read this, I kept thinking of poor ol' Charlie B. getting no valentines...ever.
I bet Walter P. fondly remembers those moments.

Annacond said...

Nice childhood memory there, for you AND Walter. Moms have such gift for making special days even more special, don't they, even when we totally don't deserve it!

Amber said...

Paula,

Loved the stogie picture with the e-bay coat!

There is real punk and fake pop punk. So there must be oldschool emo, and new pansy emo. You're the original emo.

My theory.

Anonymous said...

God bless your mom! How many kids faced the day full of fear that there would be no cards in their box, (or only one: from the teacher, which didn't count,)and no special treat with their name on it? I did, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who longed to stay home sick rather than go to school that day. I don't think my box ever was empty, but I always expected it to be. It took me a long time to get over that, and get excited about special events.

Take 2 said...

I love Valentines cookies....

I can't say that valentines Day impacted me positively or negatively growing up. I do remember making Valentines for everyone in my class but past that my memories are very boring.

Dana :-)

layne (herman) said...

i too remember making the special valentine card holders, though i have no fond memories of any cool moms making cookies for our class.

my wife has told me that she would get home with her valentine cards and "read into them" the real message....

RC said...

the cookies in your picture remind me of my mom making v-day cookies.

thanks for sharing your memory and inspiring some of my own.

--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com