If you are the type of person who has trouble keeping up with various holidays, a simple stroll through your local mall, grocery, drug, or even convenient stores will be sure to remind you that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.

All the pink, white and red displayed throughout the stores means the time has come again for you to show the people who are special to you that you love them. After all nothing says I love you like of box of chocolates, right?

While there is no shortage in the number of people who participate in the Valentine’s Day holiday, I wonder how many people actually know the history of it.

As a child, I personally do not recall ever being told the history of Valentine’s Day. I do recall spending the day before “the big day” preparing with the class for our big party. We spent the whole afternoon making mailboxes, which were actually just brown lunch bags that would hold all our cards and candy.

For those of you who forgot or maybe never even knew the history of Valentine’s Day, here is a quick refresher.

The History Channel’s website says that one possible explanation says that Valentine was a priest that continued to perform marriage ceremonies despite a ban that was placed on all single men by Emperor Claudius II. The Emperor felt that single men made for better soldiers than married men with children. For disobeying orders, Valentine was sentenced to death.

So what does Valentine’s Day mean today exactly? Is it a day to tell the special people in your life how much you love them or is it the day that has been specially designated for us to buy cards, candy and other trinkets to show them how much we love them?

Just when the costly holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas pass and you think you are in the clear, here comes Valentine’s Day requiring you to pull out the wallet again. I can’t think of any holiday that hasn’t practically been run into the ground due to commercialism.

Does every holiday need to have boxers, fuzzy socks, sweaters, greeting cards, etc. to accompany it?

My favorite part of Valentine’s Day has always occurred at work. On that day there is always a continuous flow of deliveries and anxious faces waiting to see where the bouquet will land.

I recall a time when the biggest arrangement of beautiful flowers were placed on the wrong desk. This lady went around bragging about how her boyfriend was the best until she noticed the card buried inside and it had someone else’s name on it. I’m sure it took a lot for her to walk to the rightful owner and place the flowers on her desk.

If Valentine’s Day is your thing then that is fine. I personally don’t need a day indicated on a calendar to tell me when I should go out and buy cards and overpriced candy to tell those important to me that I love them or vice versa.

Depending on the person, I would question the authenticity of the gifts. Is this for me because you do genuinely care or am I getting this out of obligation to this commercial holiday?

If there are 365 days in a year, why are we expected to go crazy on this one day?

I would much rather get a card unexpectedly on some random day of the year. Think about it. Wouldn’t it be original to come home and find a card or something else thoughtful waiting for you on a random day?

Instead, on Feb. 14, there is no surprise element just expectation.