Y'know? For myself, I really dislike V.D. (Oh, alright -- Valentine's Day!)

It's always been the day that the boys at school, or other gentlemen of my acquaintance, chose to play nasty tricks on me, like spreading rumours around that I had written a love letter to some cool guy who would be horrified to be associated with me. Stuff like that.

And of course, there was a really, really, really nasty trick pulled on me by a few gentleman friends at Bible School. BIBLE SCHOOL, for cryin' out loud! When we had the big Revival at school a few weeks later, they got all conscience-stricken, and apologized (grovelled, actually) to me. And being a good little Christian, I forgave them. Though now that I'm not any more -- I take it back. Heh. I'm quite serious; you don't behave cruelly to someone and have it have no after-effects, even years later. I do NOT forgive them for it. I do not forget.

Then there was the V.D. in 1991 which, it turned out, was the last happy day my cat, Pieces, and I ever had together. It was the 15th when I noticed how quickly she was breathing, and made the vet appointment to get her checked out. (And she departed the world on April 8th.)

Oh, and it was also V.D. when G., the gentleman I was crazy about, held my hand in his car after a concert and said, "It's not that I don't care about you, it's just that there's one other person I care for more." The person he married that August. (And no, he never "led me on." We were never dating or anything like that, always just friends. And I already knew about his girlfriend, and eventually met her and became good friends with her.)

I tell ya, the V.D. that comes on a Saturday -- the day after Friday the 13th -- that's always the worst one of all. Something nasty <i>always</i> happens on that one.

But even so, I do like to know that any friends of mine who actually like Valentine's Day are having a good day, and enjoy celebrating it. I like them to be happy.

So, for their sakes -- happy Valentine's Day!