by Larry Johnson
February is here and love is in the air. February 14 is Valentine's Day. So who came up with it? Well, Pope Gelasius I technically invented Valentine's Day in AD 496 when he established The Feast of Saint Valentine, in memory of the martyred saint who died on that day over 200 years before.
The love connection came more than a thousand years later when the author of "The Canterbury Tales," decreed the February feast of St. Valentinus to the mating of birds. It seems that, in Chaucer's day, English birds paired off to produce eggs in February. Soon, nature-minded European nobility began sending love notes during bird-mating season. Shakespeare's lovestruck Ophelia spoke of herself as Hamlet's Valentine. In the following centuries, Englishmen and women began using Feb. 14 as an excuse to pen verses to their love objects. Chocolate manufacturers were quick to join in and began marketing sweets for one's sweetheart on Valentine's Day. Today, shops everywhere decorate their windows with hearts and banners proclaiming the annual Day of Love.
So what is love? Children can answer better than most adults when it comes to love.
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy, age 7
"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl, age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy, age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri, age 4
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny, age 7
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and just listen." Bobby, age 7
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate." Nikka, age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day." Noelle, age 7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy, age 6
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris, age 7
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann, age 4
"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren, age 4
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image) Karen, age 7
Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."
And the final one, "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica, age 8
Thanks, kids, for your honesty and wisdom.